Antoine Valois-Fortier

Antoine Valois-Fortier at the 2016 Olympic Games

Antoine Valois-Fortier (born March 13, 1990 in Vanier (Quebec) , now part of the City of Quebec ) is a Canadian judoka who won an Olympic bronze medal in 2012.

Athletic career

Antoine Valois-Fortier was the 2005 Canadian U17 champion in the weight class up to 73 kilograms. The 1.90 m tall judoka has been fighting in the weight class up to 81 kilograms since 2006. In 2007 and 2008 he was Canadian U20 champion in this weight class, and in 2010 he won his first championship title in the adult class. Valois-Fortier received his first international medal at the Pan American Championships in 2011, when he was only defeated by the Argentine Emmanuel Lucenti and fought his way through to the bronze medal in the hope round, he won the battle for bronze against the Cuban Osmay Cruz . At the Pan American Games in 2011 , he defeated Emmanuel Lucenti in the quarterfinals, but lost the semifinals to the Brazilian Leandro Guilheiro . In the battle for bronze he defeated Osmay Cruz again. At the Pan American Championships in Montreal in 2012, Valois-Fortier lost in the final against Leandro Guilheiro. At the 2012 Olympic tournament in London, the Canadian lost to the Russian Ivan Nifontov in the quarter-finals . After victories over Emmanuel Lucenti and US judoka Travis Stevens in the hope round , Antoine Valois-Fortier received a bronze medal.

In 2013 and 2014 the Brazilian Victor Penalber won the Pan American Championships , Valois-Fortier received the silver medal. At the 2014 World Championships in Chelyabinsk , the Canadian also reached the final with victories over Victor Penalber and French Loïc Pietri , where he was defeated by Georgian Awtandil Tschrikishvili . In 2015 Valois-Fortier won bronze at the Pan American Championships in Edmonton after losing to Emmanuel Lucenti in the semi-finals. At the 2015 World Championships in Astana, he lost to Loïc Pietri in the semi-finals and defeated the South Korean Lee Seung-su in the battle for bronze . In 2016 Valois-Fortier won the final of the Pan American Championships against Travis Stevens. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , he defeated Pietri and Lucenti, but then lost to the later Olympic champion Chassan Chalmursajew from Russia and the Japanese Takanori Nagase .

In 2017 Valois-Fortier was Canadian champion. In 2018 he won the final of the Pan American Championships against Medickson Del Orbe from the Dominican Republic. At the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, he lost to the Iranian Saeid Mollaei in the quarter-finals . With victories over the German Dominic Ressel and the Egyptian Mohamed Abdelaal, he won a bronze medal.

Web links

• Antoine Valois-Fortier in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Antoine Valois-Fortier on judoinside.com