Canada's Christa Deguchi battles to gold at Judo Masters in Jerusalem
26-year-old earns 2nd title of year after victory at Commonwealth Games
Canada's Christa Deguchi can add another gold medal to her collection.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games champion was victorious again in the under-57 kilogram division at the Judo Masters on Tuesday in Jerusalem. The annual event features 367 competitors from 58 countries.
Deguchi beat France's Sarah Leonie Cysique, the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, to claim the top prize in overtime after Cysique forfeited with a knee injury. Japan's Tsukasa Yoshido won bronze.
"This was probably Christa's best performance since she won the world championship in 2019," coach Antoine Valois-Fortier said.
🥇 GOLD for Deguchi 🥇<br><br>Christa Deguchi was crowned judo Champion in the under 57 kg category at the Jerusalem Masters Tournament in Israel 👑<br><br>📸 Antoine Valois-Fortier / <a href="https://twitter.com/JudoCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JudoCanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/9wl315sEWv">pic.twitter.com/9wl315sEWv</a>
—@TeamCanadaDeguchi, who was born in Japan but whose father is a Canadian citizen, missed out on the Olympics after finishing behind fellow Canadian Jessica Klimkait at the 2021 world championships.
Canada could only send one judoka in the weight class, and Klimkait would go on to take home bronze. At the time, Deguchi, who trains in Lethbridge, Alta., and Klimkait, of Whitby, Ont., were the top-two ranked athletes in their weight class.
Deguchi, 26, was the first Canadian to ever reach the podium at worlds when she won bronze in 2018.
She one-upped herself a year later by becoming the country's first-ever judo world champion. Klimkait repeated the feat in 2021. At the most recent worlds in October, Klimkait scored bronze while Deguchi was left off the podium.
Deguchi also won gold medals this year at the Croatia Grand Prix and the Baku Grand Slam.
Klimkait did not compete in Jerusalem.
With files from The Canadian Press
