Evelyn Beaton, Runner-Up Pan-American Champion

Montréal, April 19, 2026 – Alberta’s Evelyn Beaton captured the silver medal in the under-52 kg category at the Pan-American Judo Championships in Panama on Sunday. In her gold medal match, the 21-year-old faced the daunting task of battling Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta, who is six years her senior and, notably, won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Photo: Confederacion Panamericana de judo
Evelyn Beaton, silver medalist, on the left.

Beaton secured Canada’s sixth medal at this weekend’s championships, following the one gold and four bronze medals collected by the Canadian team yesterday.

In the big final, Beaton fought valiantly and attacked relentlessly, but despite her repeated efforts, the Brazilian’s impenetrable defenses could not be breached. Beaton trailed by a yuko with two minutes remaining in regulation time. Then, in the final seconds of the match, Pimenta, the more experienced of the two athletes, threw Beaton for a second yuko, thus sealing her victory.

“[Evelyn] had a tough match against a very high-level opponent. She held her own for the most part, but she conceded a point early in the match and wasn’t able to come back,” said national team coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.

“Once the Brazilian took the lead, she simply tightened up her game and spent a lot of time on the ground, in order to run down the clock. [Evelyn] put up a good fight and launched some solid attacks, but her opponent’s experience ultimately made the difference. Evelyn has been making great progress, however, and the fact that she was in the finals again is a very good sign,” added the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist.

In the same weight category, Quebec’s Rima Bourihane was eliminated in her first bout of the day.

At the 2025 Pan-American Championships, Beaton won the gold medal. She was also crowned champion of the 2023 Junior Pan-American Championships.

On the men’s side today, Quebec’s Arthur Margelidon and François Gauthier-Drapeau advanced to the two under-81 kg bronze medal finals. However, both judokas lost their matches and finished fifth.

Against Johan Silot of the USA, Margelidon saw his medal chances slip away in the opening seconds of overtime, when his opponent scored a yuko. Earlier, in his semi-final match against Medickson del Orbe Cortorreal of the Dominican Republic, the 32-year-old had lost on penalties. Margelidon had advanced to the final four after defeating Gauthier-Drapeau in the quarter-finals, following more than three minutes of overtime.

In the other bronze medal match, Brazil’s David Lima scored an early ippon by throwing Gauthier-Drapeau. Earlier, Gauthier-Drapeau had defeated Adrain Gandia of Puerto Rico in his first repechage match.

The Canadian coach expected that the two male Olympians would finish higher in the standings.

“To be honest, it’s a bit of a disappointment. I had expected the guys to at least make it onto the podium, if not win it all. Their quarter-final battle against each other was a tough one. They know each other very well, so it was very close,” noted Valois-Fortier, adding that he was disappointed to see his team limited to just one medal on Sunday.

In the women’s under-48 kg weight class, Ekaterina Danilkov finished with one win and two losses. She defeated Argentina’s Mikaela Rojas before losing to Chile’s Mary Dee Vargas Ley, who later won the silver medal. In the repechage, the judoka from Vancouver was halted by Laura Vasquez of Ecuador.

In the under-57 kg group, New Brunswick’s Hayden Thibeault kicked off her day with a win, before falling to Brazil’s Sarah Souza, who finished second in the category. Quebec’s Laurence Gagnon was eliminated in her first match of the day.

In the men’s over-100 kg category, John Jr. Messé A Bessong and Ryan Proulx were both defeated in their first bouts.

In conclusion, Valois-Fortier takes a very positive view of the collaboration between the athletes of different generations in his group, particularly among the women.

“There’s a great combination of experience and new talent in the women’s group, and it was great to see them all perform well on the tatamis—both the more experienced athletes and the younger ones. The team has great energy, and if they can help each other progress, that’s awesome!”

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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