Judoka Nicolas Gill celebrates comeback with bronze medal

Seven months after he was sidelined with a serious knee injury, Montreal judoka Nicolas Gill won a bronze medal in the 100 kg event at the Tre Torri Judo Tournament in Italy. Two other Canadians also won medals. Marie-Helene Chisholm from Port-Cartier, Quebec also placed third in the 63 kg event while Amy Cotton from Antigonish, Nova Scotia has guaranteed herself a silver medal, with a spot in the final bout of the 78 kg event on Saturday.

Gill did not know until yesterday if he could take part in the event. The 32 year old athlete had to fight six opponents to make his way on the podium. It was a good way to test his right knee on which he was operated in November.

“I survived a long day,” said Gill. “My knee was giving me so much trouble since we arrived in Italy so it did not look too good. When I woke up this morning I questioned myself and I went through the warm-up. I felt good afterwards and decided to go on.”

Gill first defeated Gianluca Giaccaglia of Italy and Thanasis Grapsas of Greece by ippon. “It wasn’t the ideal first opponent since Giaccaglia won this event last year. I would have rather liked to start against the Greek and move to tougher opponents.”

In the quarterfinal, Gill lost on a penalty for his lack of combativeness against George Kizilashvili of Georgia. He then won his next two repechage bouts against Quitao Song of China and Dimitri Peters, of Germany. He then won the bronze medal match over Marco Liuto of Italy by ippon.

“I did not know this guy but he had a good tournament,” said Gill. “He was a very defensive guy and he did not let me place my hands. At one point, I managed to attack him and score an ippon.”

“I was very tired after my last bout. I had cramps in the calves and I was wasted. I’m not in the best of shapes and my judo is not on par. But globally it’s been a good first tournament. I could not expect better results,“ he said. Gill won this event back in 2001 and 2002.

Chisholm wins bronze
Marie-Helene Chisholm only had three bouts to capture the bronze medal in the 63 kg event. She had a bye in the opening round and defeated an Italian before losing to Driulis Gonzales of Cuba in the semi-final. She won her bronze medal bout over a German opponent.

“It’s been a good day,“ she said. “I did not have much pressure to achieve big results. This was more like a training session for me.”

Only Gonzales, a former Olympic gold medallist, could be on Chisholm’s path in Athens. “She’ll be there for sure,” said Chisholm who would like to face her again. “I felt good during the bout. I was lacking on the tactical aspects of things since I had never met her before. It’s been a tight match and I only lost by a penalty.”

Gonzales will face Lena Goeldi of Switzerland in the final on Saturday.

Cotton one step from gold
In the 78 kg event, Canadian Amy Cotton reached the final bout against a Cuban opponent.

Two other Canadians were in action today. Isabel Latulippe of Longueuil, Quebec and Olia Berger of Winnipeg, Manitoba both placed fifth in the 48 kg and Over-78 kg events.

Action resumes tomorrow with the elimination rounds in the other events and the finals. Keith Morgan of Calgary, Alberta will be competing in the 90 kg event.