Jessica Klimkait wins bronze at the 2022 IJF Grand Slam in Hungary

Jessica Klimkait (YouTube)

Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario has won her 10th career grand slam medal. 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 at the 2022 International Judo Federation Grand Slam in Budapest, Hungary on Friday in the women’s 57 kilogram division.

Klimkait won her first match over Kitti Kovacs of Hungary. However, she lost her second match to Haruka Funakubo of Japan.

Then in the repechage portion of the tournament, Klimkait won both of her matches to take bronze. First she beat Mina Libeer of Belgium, and then beat Arnaes Odelin Garcia of Cuba.

Haruka Funakubo of Japan won the gold medal. Rafaela Silva of Brazil won the silver medal. Timna Nelson Levy of Israel won the bronze medal.

Klimkait has had success at the Hungary Grand Slam event in the past. She won the gold medal there in 2020. It should also be noted that Budapest was the host city that Klimkait won gold in at the 2021 World Judo Championships. In the process, she became the second Canadian ever to win world championship gold, following Christa Deguchi, in the same weight class, in 2019 in Tokyo. The bronze medal for Klimkait on Friday will give her confidence as she prepares for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. 

 

 

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