Team Canada earns medals of every colour!

Montréal, April 25, 2025 – Lead by Evelyn Beaton, who won the gold in the -52 kg grand final, Team Canada collected four medals today – one gold, one silver and two bronze – on Friday, the first day of the Panamerican and Oceania Judo Championships held in Santiago, Chile.

-52 podium – Evelyn Beaton 1st – photo CPJ

In addition to Beaton’s medal, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg) earned silver, while both Julien Frascadore (-66 kg) and Yanis Hachemi (-73 kg) took third place – good for bronze.

Evelyn Beaton’s victory over Brazil’s Jessica Pereira in the final bout of the -52 kg category was the most prestigious win of her young career. The 20-year-old Albertan impressed with the way she fought, throughout the day.

“It wasn’t a surprise – I expected Evelyn to go all the way and win a medal,” admitted Coach Antoine Valois-Fortier. Notably, Beaton also won gold at the Pan-American Championships in 2023, albeit in the junior category.

“However, what surprised me was seeing how dominant she was. She really knew how to win each of her fights hands down, so it’s really encouraging to see her perform like that. There’s no doubt about it, this is her biggest senior result, so it’s very encouraging, and exciting!”

Veteran judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard had every intention of emulating her younger teammate in the -63 kg final, but she ended up surprised by Brazil’s Nauana Silva. The Quebecer was thrown by waza-ari, but she didn’t let that slow down her rhythm. Beauchemin-Pinard didn’t score against her opponent, but the other judoka did receive a second yellow card with 30 seconds left in the bout.

“Catherine was dominant until the final, when she was tested a little bit more by the Brazilian. She put up a good fight though, and dominated most of the exchanges,” noted Coach Valois-Fortier. “She won’t necessarily like me saying this, but I think that with the World Championships only a few months away, it’s going to put a fire in her belly in terms of preparation. I’m convinced that, in the end, it will help her when ‘D-Day’ comes.”

Also in the same weight class, Laurence Biron posted a 1-1 record to finish seventh. Marie-Lune Turmel took seventh place in the -48 kg category.

Sadly, Heidi Quach (-48 kg), Valeria Kostrovets (-52 kg) and Laurence Gagnon (-57 kg) all lost their only bouts on the tatami today, and thus were not ranked.

In one bronze medal final in the -73 kg category, Yanis Hachemi got the better of Mexico’s Ulises Mendez by ippon, the same athlete who had sent Justin Lemire to the repechage earlier in the day. In the other bronze medal final where Lemire was competing, he was defeated by Dominican Antonio Tornal with 30 seconds left in regulation time. Despite putting up a good fight, Lemire ended his day in fifth place.

Julien Frascadore (66 kg) will also leave the Chilean capital with a bronze medal packed carefully in his luggage, thanks to his victory over Argentina’s Joaquin Tovagliari.

Tylor Collin (-60 kg) was defeated in his only bout of the day.

Saturday, Coralie Godbout (-78 kg), Marianna Karas (+78 kg), David Popovici (-81 kg), Keagan Young (-81 kg), Mohab Elnahas (-90 kg) and Guillaume Gaulin (-90 kg) will don the maple leaf and step onto the tatami to compete for continental titles.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

For more information:

Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org