Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard climbs to the highest step of the podium

Montréal, March 17, 2014 — Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard claimed the gold medal in the under 57 kg category, Monday, on day 1 of the Judo Pan-American Open of Montevideo, presented in Uruguay. In the finals, Beauchemin-Pinard got the better of the Colombian Yadinys Amaris by an ippon. Alexis Morin-Martel was the other member of the Canadian contingent to make their way onto the podium, defeating his teammate Arthur Margelidon in one of the two bronze medal bouts in the under 73 kg category. Margelidon settled for a 5^th place classification.

“All of my bouts went really smoothly and I never felt like I was in any kind of danger,” explained the Longueuil-native Beauchemin-Pinard, who finished her day with a record of 4-0. “I was a bit apprehensive going into the finale because I didn’t know what to expect. In the end my strategy worked well, to the point where my opponent was out of breath near the end of the fight,” added the Quebecer, who won with an ippon after applying an arm-lock to the Colombian in the final minute of the bout.

In the semis, Beauchemin-Pinard defeated the American Hana Carmichael, this time with a yuko. It was a reversal of fortune for the Quebecoise, who fell to Carmichael at the last Grand Prix in Düsseldorf.

“I wanted to get my revenge. My coach and I analyzed that last fight, and I think we figured out the right tactical approach to counter her. I needed to pull her more, so she wouldn’t be able to use her best maneuver.  It ended up working pretty well!”

On the men’s side in the under 73 kg division, Morin-Martel came away with just one loss on the day, falling in the semifinals to the eventual gold medalist, Ugo Legrand. Also in the semis, Margelidon would succumb to defeat as well, losing to the Brazilian Marcelo Contini. Still in the -73 kg class, Étienne Briand (2-2) finished in seventh place while David Ancor (1-1) did not receive a classification.

As for the other Canadians in action, Gueorgui Poklitar (-60 kg) and Simon Gaudreault (66 kg) were both eliminated in their opening round bouts.