Montréal, March 16, 2025 – Lowan Le Bris had to face no less than seven adversaries to get there, but he was indeed able to grab a hard-fought bronze medal in the Under 73kg class, Sunday, at the Porec Millennium Team Cadet European Cup.
The British Columbian judoka’s quest for the podium included two last matches that seemed like marathons, including added time. Yet in the end, Le Bris bested both Spain’s Sergi Ikeme Mascaro, and lastly, Croatia’s Josip Havranek, to earn the bronze medal.
“Lowan faced two tough opponents in his last two bouts. He managed to get the better of them by being more strategic than they were – he had the right attacks at the right time. In the bronze final, he succeeded in tricking his opponent, who was eventually penalised three times, good for an ippon, said Canadian Coach Alexandre Émond.
After winning the first round against Ukraine’s Artem Pivniuk, Le Bris was surprised in the next round by Great Britain’s Lenny Tancock. Tancock made it all the way to the semi-finals, allowing Le Bris to advance to the repechage.
The Canadian received a bye when Italy’s Matteo Poggi failed to show up on the tatami. Le Bris then saw to beating Serbia’s Uros Jalic and Poland’s Jakub Borzecki, before continuing on to his eventual third step of the podium.
“It was a huge day, and it was hard to swallow the defeat at first, but he really wanted to bounce back in the repechage. He performed well all day and deserves this medal. I think ultimately he’s really proud of himself,” continued the coach.
In women’s judo action, Charlie Thibault (-70 kg) finished her day with two wins and two losses. She first defeated Ukraine’s Anna Terletska and Austria’s Mavie Rabl. Thibault then went on to her own marathon bout, which lasted over 8 minutes, before finally losing to Croatia’s Ana Basker in the quarter-finals.
Fatigue seemed to have gotten the better of the Quebec judoka in the repechage – and understandably so! – as she fell to Spain’s Andrea Sanchez Valle after four minutes of regulation time.
“Charlie was excellent on the floor early in the day, but she was up against some stiff competition, who were able to cause problems for her afterwards. After four minutes of extra time, I think the referees are quicker to give a third shido to end the fight, and maybe that’s what happened. She was caught off guard in her next bout, and that was the end of her day,’ added Émond.
Dilana Gesa (-57 kg) and Maia Thomson (-63 kg) were also on the tatami Sunday, but were unable to win.
Canadian judokas will stay in Croatia over the next two days, before returning home to perfect their preparation for the upcoming Pan-American Cadet Championships in Lima, Peru, this April. Stay tuned for more judo thrills!
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
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Patrick Esparbès
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p.esparbes@judocanada.org