Jessica Klimkait wins gold in IJF Grand Slam in Tajikistan

Jessica Klimkait (right) (Rodolfo Vilela, Wikimedia Commons)

Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario won the gold medal in an International Judo Federation Grand Slam event in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Friday according to Michael Charlebois of the Canadian Olympic Committee on Monday. For Klimkait, it was her 19th career grand slam medal. She previously won seven gold medals, five silver medals and seven bronze medals.

In the women’s 57 kilogram division in Tajikistan, the division that Klimkait won the bronze medal in at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, the Canadian won all four of her matches. She beat Yamini Mourya of India and Maysa Pardayeva of Turkmenistan in Pool A action, Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo of Mongolia in the semifinals and silver medalist Sarah Leonie Cysique of France in the final. Veronica Toniolo of Italy and Lkhagvatogoo shared the bronze medal.

Klimkait’s other six grand slam titles came in Osaka, Japan on November 23, 2018; in Zagreb, Croatia on July 26, 2019; in Dusseldorf, Germany on February 21, 2020; in Antalya, Turkey on April 1, 2022; in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 16, 2023; and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 24, 2023. However, even though Klimkait is the 2021 world champion, and ranked second in the world, she has not qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris yet. That is because Christa Deguchi of Lethbridge, Alberta is first in the world. Due to Olympic rules, one country can only send one judoka per weight class and it is expected the Canadian Olympic Committee will use the 2024 World Judo Championships in Abu Dhabi from May 19-23 as the decision maker on what elite Canadian judoka will represent Canada at the Olympic Games.

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