Montréal, October 11, 2025 – Julien Frascadore won his very first Grand Prix medal at the Lima, Peru Grand Prix on Saturday. The Canadian judoka took silver in the Under 66kg category after a grueling final that lasted over nine minutes.
The Quebec-based athlete was competing in his first tournament since April, and faced 2024 European Junior Champion Valerio Accogli (Italy) in the final. Frascadore resisted each of Accogli’s early aggressive attacks, but overtime ultimately proved necessary. In the end, the Italian judoka ended the bout by throwing the Canadian.
“Julien really did the best he could, he tried everything in his arsenal to throw off the other judoka. Quite honestly, the same goes for his opponent: both wanted to win and it was an extremely close bout,” commented national team coach Antoine Bouchard.
“He fought an excellent fight in the semifinals and was never in danger. Up until the final, Julien was having a phenomenal day, probably one of his best days ever,” Bouchard noted.
Frascadore finished the competition with a record of four wins and one loss. Courtesy two waza-aris, he made short work of Italy’s Mattia Miceli in the first round. The Canadian then defeated Cuba’s Mauricio De Armas with a spectacular ippon. A victory over Brazil’s Ronald Lima (ranked 15th internationally) permitted the eventual silver medalist to reach the final four. Trailing for most of the bout, Frascadore managed to win a hotly contested match.
Once in the semifinals, the 25-year-old judoka got the better of Rashad Yelkiyev (Azerbaijan) with a waza-ari, a victory that ensured the Canadian a place on the podium.
In women’s judo action, Evelyn Beaton finished seventh in the Under 52kg category. The Albertan began her day with a victory over Britain’s Lola Hodson. She then suffered two overtime losses, the first to Brazil’s Gabriela Conceicao, eventual silver medal, and the second loss to Peru’s Brillith Gamarra in the repechage, who finished third on the podium.
Heidi Quach was halted after one bout in the Under 48kg category. A small consolation, Quach lost to the category’s future gold medalist, Chile’s Mary Dee Vargas Ley.
The judo thrills aren’t over this weekend: six Canadian judokas will step on to the tatami this Sunday at the Lima Grand Prix. Justin Lemire and Yanis Hachemi will compete in the Under 73kg category, while David Popovici and Arthur Margelidon will compete in the Under 81kg category. On the women’s tatami, Laurence Biron and Jessica Klimkait will be judokas to watch in the Under 63kg category.
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For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org