PARIS – Canada’s Christa Deguchi defeated Serbia’s Marica Perisic on Monday to advance to the Olympic women’s judo semifinals in the under-57-kilogram category at Arena Champ-de-Mars.
Deguchi bested Perisic in the quarterfinals by golden score — or sudden-death overtime — by waza-ari, the second-highest score a fighter can achieve with a single move in judo.
Deguchi opened her Olympic debut with a win by ippon — a single move that immediately ends the match —against Panama’s Kristine Jimenez.
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The 28-year-old Deguchi, who will face France’s Sarah-Léonie Cysique in the semifinals, had a bye into the round of 16 being the No. 1-ranked judoka in the world in her weight class.
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Deguchi was the first Canadian to earn a world championship medal with bronze in 2018 before becoming Canada’s first-ever judo world champion in 2019. Deguchi won her second world title in 2023 and earned silver at worlds in May.
She was chosen to represent Canada over No. 2-ranked Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ont., who earned bronze at this year’s worlds and beat out Deguchi for the lone spot for the Tokyo Games in 2021, where she earned Olympic bronze.
Montreal’s Arthur Margelidon defeated Tajikistan’s Behruzi Khojazoda in the opening round in the men’s under-73-kilogram category after getting a waza-ari to win by golden score. Margelidon then topped Germany’s Igor Wandtke by golden score with an ippon to make the quarterfinals.
Margelidon fell to Azerbaijan’s Hidayat Heydarov in the quarterfinals after Heydarov scored an ippon in sudden-death overtime. Margelidon will later face Italy’s Manuel Lombardo in a repechage match.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2024.
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