Gold for Wesley Enns and Kelly Palmer at Home!

Montréal, May 15, 2025 – For Wesley Enns and Kelly Palmer, the fact that the Canadian Open Judo Championships were being held in their home province of Alberta gave them the perfect excuse to capture three gold medals on day one of the event. On Thursday in Calgary, they took the top spots in Ju-no-Kata, Katame-no-Kata, and Kodokan Goshin-Jutsu.

Photo Judo Canada
Kelly Palmer and Wesley Enns

In Ju-no-Kata, they accumulated a total of 367 points, edging out Shane Legros and Dan Rusu, who finished second with 358.5. Last year, the Albertans placed second in the same event.

Next, Enns and Palmer successfully defended the Katame-no-Kata title they won last year in Montréal, before making it a hat trick in Kodokan Goshin-Jutsu.

“I don’t know if you can say we had a home field advantage, because we always perform as well as we can, no matter where we are. But it sure was nice to feel the support of the crowd. We really didn’t expect to win three titles today. The competition was very strong. We did have high expectations of ourselves, but still, we were pleasantly surprised by our performances,” said Enns.

The three victories gave the duo, who will compete in the Kata World Championships in Paris in November, a big boost of energy.

“We’ve competed at the World Championships in the past, but this time, we really want to show everyone what we’re capable of. We absolutely want to make it to the finals,” added Enns.

Shane Legros and Dan Rusu won the senior Kime-no-Kata title today.

Zachary Mainville and Thomas Warolin clinched the final senior title that was up for grabs on Thursday, finishing just ahead of Isack Berger and Jean-Sébastien Roy in Nage-no-Kata. Mainvile and Warolin also won the same title in the U23 age group.

A golden comeback for Megan Hanks

Megan Hanks did not have high expectations as she entered the over-63 kg ne-waza competition at the Canadian Open Championships in Calgary. The British Columbian had been holding back from international competition since 2020, and only wished to experience the excitement of a tournament once again.

Therefore, no one was more surprised than she when she captured the category’s gold medal following three perfect bouts. She then moved on to the tournament of champions, where she once more remained undefeated.

“The level of competition was very high, so I’m really happy to have won all my matches. I felt very proud as I climbed to the top of the podium, but to be honest, for me the most important thing was just getting back into it, trying out some new techniques, and having fun. The bouts were challenging, but I had a great time,” said Hanks.

“But then I had to fight athletes who were smaller than me! They were extremely fast, and it wasn’t easy at all. I had to be patient, and I had to use my strength to win. It was quite exhausting.”

Hanks will be back in action in Sunday’s senior events.

Saskatchewan’s Kenzie Woods won the gold medal in the under-52 kg category. Lia Hinchey did the same in the under-63 kg group.

In the men’s over-81 kg category, Matys Rainville wanted gold, and nothing but gold, after he finished second in the same event last year.

Following victories over Chris Muirhead, Vladimir Chitov, and Richard Turner, the Québécois finally earned his spot on the top of the podium after he defeated Ontario’s Jeff Allen in the final.

To top it all off, Rainville also claimed the tournament of champions title thanks to two solid wins.

Billy-Joe Baldonado (-66 kg) and Kai Richardson (-81 kg) were the two other male gold medallists of the day.

The action will resume on Friday with the U18 and veteran competitions.

Catch all the action on the live webcast!

For the competition results, click here.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

For more information:

Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org