Canada’s national judo team member Krista Deguchi (28) won the gold medal in the 57 kg weight class at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming Canada’s first Olympic judo gold medalist. Deguchi won a close match against South Korea’s Mimi Heo in the final.
This gold medal is Canada’s fourth medal at the Paris Olympics. Born in Japan and having started judo at the age of three, Deguchi chose her father’s country, Canada, in 2017. She has distinguished herself on the international stage as a two-time world champion (2019, 2023).
In the match held at the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris, Deguchi won by a bye in the first round and defeated Panama’s Kristin Jimenez by phone to advance to the quarterfinals. She then defeated Serbia’s Marika Perisic by golden score. In the semifinals, Deguchi faced France’s Sarah-Leoni Cisic and won a close match by golden score. In the final, she coincidentally met Hermi Mi, who had defeated her at the 2024 World Championships.
Incidentally, the two have a commonality in that their mothers are both Japanese. The two players fought a close match, but Deguchi won the gold medal by a decision. Deguchi has finished in the top two in nine of the ten Grand Slam tournaments from 2023 to 2024 and is considered a strong candidate to win the gold medal at this Olympics.