Montreal, August 11, 2019 – Mina Coulombe (-78 kg) and Marc Deschênes (+100 kg) couldn’t score a victory on Sunday, the last day of competition at the Pan American Games in Lima, in Peru.

In her first bout of the day, Coulombe was facing Costa Rican Diana Brenes. After a good start with a waza-ari early in the fight, the Baie-Comeau native made a mistake and gave her opponent an opportunity to score.

“I felt really good today (Sunday). In the last minute, my confidence level was high and I was in control. However, I tried to attack in the last seconds, and she countered and scored a waza-ari. I shouldn’t have tried to attack,” said Coulombe.

The bout then went into overtime, where the Canadian did everything she could to defeat her opponent. The referee put an end to the fight by giving a shido to Coulombe, who didn’t understand the decision at the end of the fight.

“I really don’t know why I got a penalty. I was attacking a lot, and she wasn’t doing anything. Unfortunately, I can’t control everything on the mat, and I have to live with that,” added the Quebecoise, who will undergo a hip surgery in the next few weeks. She will be away from the mats for 4 to 6 months, after which she plans to come back strong.

“It’s a recurring pain and I have to get the surgery, but I’m not done with judo! I know I still have a lot to prove and I’m enthusiastic about my future.”

Disappointment for Deschênes

Marc Deschênes was also defeated quickly. He was up against Dominican Jose Nova, who won by ippon at the last moment.

“It was very tight! Nova had a penalty, and I felt in control. I followed my plan, but he was able to counter with 47 seconds left on the clock. It’s a disappointing result for me,” explained the athlete from Laval, who wanted nothing less than a podium in this tournament.

Despite being defeated, Deschênes is motivated to get back to training to keep on improving. “I really wanted to come back home with a medal. It’s hard to accept, but I’ll work even harder to get better results.”

Canadian judokas will be coming back home with a single medal, won Saturday by Mohab El Nahas, a bronze medal in -90 kg. Even though he was expecting better results, coach Jean-Pierre Cantin was happy with the performance of his team, who was relentless during the tournament.

“We had a very young team, and they were up against the best judokas from each country. We would have liked more medals, but there are things we can’t control. We will have things to work on, but overall, I’m proud of our performance,” said Cantin.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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