Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard has won bronze for Canada in women’s 63kg judo at the Tokyo Olympics.
Beauchemin-Pinard, from St-Hubert, Que., defeated Anriquelis Barrios of Venezuela in a hard-fought match that went into sudden-death overtime.
Beauchemin-Pinard forced Barrios on her back three minutes into the sudden-death period. The Canadian pumped her fist and yelled in triumph from the mat after the winning attack.
She becomes Canada’s second woman to win an Olympic medal in judo. The first was Jessica Klimkait in the 57kg weight category, just a day before.
French judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou won gold, defeating Slovenian Tina Trstenjak, who won silver. Italy’s Maria Centracchio also won bronze.
Beauchemin-Pinard won her first three matches by ippon before losing in the semifinals by waza-ari to five-time world champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France, who went on to win gold.
Beauchemin-Pinard, a two-time Pan American champion, made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, where she lost in the second round.
-with files from the Canadian Press
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