Gold for Heidi Quach and François Gauthier-Drapeau in Montréal

Montréal, November 16, 2025 – Heidi Quach (-48 kg) and François Gauthier Drapeau (-90 kg) secured the top spot on the podium in their respective categories on Sunday at the Pan-American Cup in Montréal.

Photo Patrick Esparbès
Heidi Quach and François Gauthier Drapeau

In total, the Canadian team captured twelve medals on the closing day of the event.

Quach clinched the under-48 kg gold medal thanks to three flawless performances in as many bouts at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau.

“I’m so happy to have defended my title!” she exclaimed, following her victory over Malia Manibog of the USA in the big final.

Earlier, the Québécoise has bested her compatriot Ekaterina Danilkov, who later won bronze, and Great Britain’s Ashleigh Barnikel to secure a berth in the final.

“My first bout of the day was against Ekatarina, whom I know well, but who is very difficult to fight because she’s so much taller than me. My second match was against an athlete from Great Britain whom I had never fought before, so that was a bit more stressful. In the final, I knew [my opponent] pretty well, so I knew the approach I should take to win,” said Quach.

In the under-52 kg pool, Rima Bourihane and Melody Grenier came away with bronze medals, while Laurence Gagnon captured silver in the under-57 kg weight class.

On the men’s side, François Gauthier Drapeau (-90 kg) also performed perfectly in his four matches, finishing the day at the top of the podium.

“I had a great day today!” said the Paris Olympian. “All my opponents were strong, so I knew my judo would have to be good if I wanted to win. And I succeeded!”

Earlier on Sunday, Gauthier Drapeau disposed of the USA’s Ben Hardy before defeating his compatriots Matthew Molchanov, Guillaume Gaulin (who later won bronze), and Alex Marineau, who clinched silver.

“In both the semi-final and the final, I fought guys I’ve been training with for years. Those types of bouts are always much more defensive, because we know each other so well. Today, I managed to score against them, which tells me my techniques are working” said Gauthier Drapeau.

“When we’re out on the mats, all bets are off. Even if we’re friends, we perform the best we can, and today, I accomplished what I came here to do,” added the Québécois.

In the under-81 kg pool, gold medallist Artem Neyolov bested silver medallist and fellow Canadian David Popovici, as well as bronze medallists Lasha Tsatsalashvili of Canada and Ratbek Zhumanazarov of Morocco.

Ryan Proulx captured bronze in the over-100 kg weight class.

At the Zagreb Grand Prix in Croatia this morning, John Jr Messé A Bessong (+100 kg) defeated Moustapha Fofana of Guinea by ippon, before bowing out to Dzhamal Gamzatkhanov of Azerbaijan in the same manner. The Québécois did not rank.

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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