RIO DE JANEIRO – Canadian judoka Antoine Bouchard lost to Japan’s Masashi Ebinuma in the 66-kilogram bronze-medal match at the Rio Olympics on Sunday.
Ebinuma won the match by ippon on a shoulder throw.
The 21-year-old Bouchard took the long route to a medal match.
He had to beat Mongolia’s Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj in a repechage to advance to the third-place bout after losing his quarter-final to Slovenia’s Adrian Gomboc earlier in the day. Bouchard took the repechage over Davaadorj by waza-ari.
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The Jonquiere, Que., native started his day with three straight wins, including a stunning victory in the round of 32 over Russia’s Mikhail Puliaev, a silver medallist at the 2014 and 2015 world championship.
Bouchard opened with a victory by ippon over Papua New Guinea’s Raymond Ovinou in just 43 seconds and beat Morocco’s Imad Bassou in the round of 16.
Bouchard won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015.