Canada's Valois-Fortier wins judo bronze at Grand Prix
The 29-year-old beat world No. 13 Anri Egutidze to finish third
Canada's Antoine Valois-Fortier appears to be returning to form after struggling with an injury over the past year.
The 29-year-old from Vanier, Que., captured bronze in the men's 81-kilogram category at a judo Grand Prix event in Tbilisi, Georgia on Saturday.
The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist had been sidelined with a back injury since May 2018, until he returned to the mats at the Dusseldorf Grand Slam last month.
It was his first podium finish since his return.
"I'm obviously very happy. It wasn't a perfect day, but I'm satisfied with the result. I'm not back at the level I was before my injury yet, but I feel better every day," said Valois-Fortier.
Valois-Fortier beat world No. 13 Anri Egutidze of Portgual in the bronze-medal bout.
"He's very physical and explosive, so my goal was to keep a distance and tire him out as much as I could. At the end, I was able to throw him and score. I then had to stay in control until the end to win the bronze," he said.
Tato Grigalashvili also picked up a bronze, while Frank De Wit of the Netherlands and Timo Cavelius of Germany finished in first and second, respectively.