Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario, and Shady El Nahas of Toronto, Ontario each won the bronze medals in an International Judo Federation Grand Slam event in Tbilisi, Georgia over the weekend. 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 the women’s 57 klilogram division and El Nahas won the bronze medal in the men’s 100 kilogram division on Friday. For Klimkait, it was her 13th grand slam medal (five gold medals, three silver medals, and five bronze medals). For El Nahas it was his ninth grand slam medal (one gold medal, two silver medals and six bronze medals).
Klimkait shared the podium with fellow bronze medalist Veronica Toniolo of Italy, gold medalist Marica Perisic of Serbia, and silver medalist Nora Gjakova of Kosovo. Klimkait competed in Pool A and beat Bakyt Kussakbayeva of Kazakhstan, Lele Nairne of Great Britain, and Jessica Lima of Brazil. In the semifinals, Klimkait lost to Gjakova before beating Rafaela Silva of Brazil in the Repechage.
El-Nahas shared the podium with fellow bronze medalist Rafael Buzacarini of Brazil. Ilia Sulamanidze of Georgia won the gold medal and Gonchigsuren Batkhuyag of Mongolia won the silver medal. In Pool C action, El Nahas beat Zlatko Kumric of Croatia, and Alexandre Iddir of France. El Nahas then lost to Batkhuyag in the semifinals before beating Nurlykhan Sharkhan of Kazakhstan in the Repechage. The medals for Klimkait and El Nahas will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
