Christa Deguchi of Lethbridge, Alberta and Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario each won a medal in the women’s 57 kilogram division weight class at the 2023 World Judo Championships at the Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday. Deguchi won the gold medal and Klimkait, who won the bronze medal in the women’s 57 kilogram division at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, won the bronze medal.
In Pool C action, Deguchi defeated Maysa Pardayewa of Turkmenistan, Nekoda Smythe-Davis of Great Britain and Sarah-Leonie Cysique of France. Deguchi then beat Lkhagvatogoogiin Enkhriilen of Mongolia in the semifinals, and then world championship silver medalist Haruka Funakubo of Japan in the gold medal match by an ippon.
In Pool D action, Klimkait beat Veronica Toniolo of Italy and Jessica Lima of Brazil, before losing to Enkhrillen. In the Repechage, Klimkait beat Cysique and Hasret Bozkurt of Turkey. Enkhrikllen won the other bronze medal.
This is the third medal for Deguchi at the World Judo Championships. She previously won gold in Tokyo in 2019 and bronze in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2018.
This is the third medal for Klimkait at the World Judo Championships. She previously won gold in Budapest in 2021 and bronze in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2022.