Antoine Valois-Fortier (born 13 March 1990) is a Canadian retired

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

who won the bronze medal in the −81 kg category at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, becoming the first Canadian to win a medal in Olympic judo in twelve years and the fifth to win one in Canadian history.

Career

Valois-Fortier entered the 2012 Olympics ranked 21st in the world in his weight class. He pulled off several upset victories, including a win over Olympic gold medalist Elnur Mammadli, to make the quarterfinals. He lost to Ivan Nifontov of Russia, but made the

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

and defeated

Emmanuel Lucenti Emmanuel "Emma" Lucenti (born 23 November 1984) is a judoka from Argentina. He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's half-middleweight (81 kg). At the 2008 Summer Olympics, he lost in second round to Euan Burto ...

of Argentina to enter the bronze medal match against

Travis Stevens Travis Stevens (born February 28, 1986) is an American judoka who competed in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. He competes in the men's half-middleweight (−81 kg) division. On August 9, 2016, Stevens became the third American male ...

, which he then won. Valois-Fortier's win is Canada's first Olympic medal in Judo since 2000, which was a silver won by his coach Nicolas Gill, and only the fifth won by a Canadian in Olympic history. At the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

he won his first two bouts, but then lost the third bout to the eventual gold medalist Khasan Khalmurzaev and the

match to a bronze medalist Takanori Nagase. In June 2021, Valois-Fortier was named to Canada's 2020 Olympic team. In December 2021, Valois-Fortier announced his retirement from competitive judo. Valois-Forter will remain a part of the national team, as a coach.

Honours

In 2012 Valois-Fortier was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

References

External links

* * * *
Interview with Valois-Fortier about his cross-Canada tour
(CBC Radio)
2012 Olympic −81 kg bronze medal match
Antoine Valois-Fortier vs.

(CTV Olympics on YouTube)
Alternate video
(

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

on YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Valois-Fortier, Antoine 1990 births Living people Canadian male judoka Olympic judoka for Canada Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in judo Sportspeople from Quebec City Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists in judo Judoka at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Canadian sportsmen

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links