Canadian clashes at U57 with Christa Deguchi highest ranked

Deguchi versus Klimkait continues but Deguchi is the world number 1. The Canadian discussion has been red hot for many years now with Deguchi and Klimkait needing to beat the rest of the world in order to get to each other and have a chance to prove supremacy. Christa has two world titles to Klimkait’s one but the latter has the Olympic bronze medal too after earning the right to travel to Tokyo in the summer of 2021, ahead of Deguchi.

The ticket to go is one thing but the winning of an Olympic gold is quite another and should the world number one, Deguchi, reach the French capital in 6 months time, she will have the chasing pack to deal with and they are formidable. From 2016 Olympic champion Silva (BRA) to 2021 Olympic champion Gjakova (KOS), the line-up is strong and we haven’t even got to Funakubo, Cysique or exciting youngster Mimi Huh (KOR) yet.

Profile Christa Deguchi

Canadian judoka Christa Deguchi is the 2023 and 2019 World Champion. She captured the gold medal at the Grand Slam in Tokyo and Ulaanbaatar in 2023. She took gold at the IJF Masters in Jerusalem in 2022. Christa won the Grand Slam in Paris three times as well as two Panam titles. In 2022 she won the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Her sister Kelly competes as well in the IJF World Tour and her father who is a photographer attended the World Championships to picture her on the podium in Doha.