Charlie Thibault: The Young Judoka Already Inspiring the Next Generation

Montréal, March 19, 2026 – For as long as she can remember, Charlie Thibault has been spending time on the tatamis, alongside her twin brother Justin. The two siblings were first introduced to judo at the Seïkidokan Judo Club in Trois-Rivières when they were only four years old. More recently, Charlie has been based in Montréal, where she now trains at the National Training Centre. Her goal? To become one of the world’s top athletes in her discipline.

Photo IJF – Cadet World Championships 2025
Charlie Thibault 2nd

While it was her mother, a former judoka herself, who introduced her to the sport, Charlie quickly fell in love with it. Today, Charlie is steadily making a name for herself on the international stage in the under-70 kg weight category.

“My mother had done some judo, so she knew it would be a good way for me to learn to defend myself and blow off some steam. Then, when my parents saw that I liked it, they encouraged me to keep going,” said Thibault.

“I enjoy training. I enjoy pushing myself and seeing how far I’ve progressed. I enjoy competing too, of course. And then there’s the whole social aspect. I’ve made tons of friends through judo. When I first started competing, things went pretty well, and that made me want to train even harder, so that I would become even better. These days, it’s still going pretty well.”

When Thibault says “it’s still going pretty well,” she is referring of course to her silver medal at the Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, in August 2025, as well as her two victories at the most recent Junior Pan-American Cups in Montréal in 2024 and 2025, among other achievements. It’s an impressive track record for someone who just celebrated her eighteenth birthday at the end of January.

In 2024, Thibault achieved a remarkable feat by earning three podium finishes in three different age categories over three days at the Continental Cup in Montréal. After winning the junior title, she took silver medals in both the cadet and senior divisions, even though she was only sixteen years old.

“True, that was a great weekend for me in Montréal, but I think my favourite competition memory is my title as cadet runner-up world champion in Bulgaria. I had trained extremely hard for the World Championships because I knew the level of competition would be really high. I took it one bout at a time, but still, I could barely believe it when I won my semi-final match. Of course, I would have liked to win gold, but I’m very proud of my second-place finish. It was a great accomplishment,” recalled Thibault.

Continual improvement

The year before she captured the silver medal at the World Championships, Thibault had been limited to only two bouts at the Cadet World Championships in Lima, Peru. And although she was disappointed in her results that year, the athlete from Pierreville ultimately drew motivation from them, vowing to keep improving and reach new heights.

“I moved to Montréal to train at the Olympic Stadium, and that made a big difference for me. I continued to train and to compete and, little by little, I started to gain experience. It was my final year as a cadet, and I wanted to make the most of it before I moved up to the junior level.”

According to Thibault, her recent successes can be attributed to both her consistency in training and her positive attitude.

“I think I’m pretty disciplined, and I’m a hard worker. Nothing can make me miss a training session. And this might sound weird, but I smile a lot when I’m training, and that makes me love judo even more,” she explained with a laugh.

Now in her first full year as a junior, Thibault is already setting ambitious goals for herself, aiming to reach the podium at every competition. She is also looking even further ahead, setting her sights on the Senior World Championships and—why not?—the Olympic Games.

“In my wildest dreams, I would win medals at the World Championships and the Olympics. I would be on top of the world! Several Canadian women have already done so, including Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Christa Deguchi, and Jessica Klimkait. I run into them often, and that makes me feel like it’s possible for me too.”

Thibault would also like to inspire the next generation of Canadian judokas and serve as a role model—like Beauchemin-Pinard did for her—to show young female athletes that it’s possible to achieve their biggest dreams.

“Already, there are young girls who tell me I inspire them. It’s pretty crazy. But for now, it doesn’t really sink in, because I too look up to the more experienced judokas as a source of motivation. But I am very proud to be able to serve as an example, and I hope to continue to do so for a long time,” she concluded.

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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