Christa Deguchi of Lethbridge, Alberta won the gold medal in the women’s 57 kilogram judo competition at the 2024 Antalya Grand Slam on Friday. It was one of three medals won by Canadian judokas over Easter weekend, as Francois Gauthier-Drapeau of Alma, Quebec won the silver medal in the men’s 81 kilogram division on Friday, and Shady El Nahas of Toronto, Ontario won the silver medal in the men’s 100 kilogram division on Friday.
In the women’s 57 kilogram division, Deguchi beat Jessica Lima of Brazil in the gold medal match. Maysa Pardayeva of Turkmenistan and Faiza Mokdar of France shared the bronze medal. Deguchi went through the event undefeated. She beat Laura Kallinger of Austria, Mariana Esteves of Guinea, and Juhee Kim of South Korea in Pool A action, and Mokdar in the semifinals.
Gauthier-Drapeau lost to gold medalist Takanori Nagase of Japan in the final. Guilherme Schimidt of Brazil and Joao Fernando of Portugal shared the bronze medal. Gauthier-Drapeau beat Georgi Gramatikov of Bulgaria, Nurbek Murtozoev of Uzbekistan and Fernando in Pool C action.
El Nahas lost to gold medalist Jorge Fonseca of Portugal in the final. Aaron Wolf of Japan and Gonchigsuren Batkhuyag of Mongolia shared the bronze medal. In Pool C action, El Nahas beat Louis Mai of Germany, Toma Nikiforov of Belgium and Aleksandar Kukolj of Serbia. The medals for Deguchi, Gauthier-Drapeau and El Nahas will prepare them for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
