Christa Deguchi

Christa Deguchi (born October 29, 1995 in Nagano ) is a former Japanese and now Canadian judoka . In 2019 she was the first Canadian woman to be judo world champion.

Christa Deguchi has a Canadian father and a Japanese mother. She grew up in Japan and started judo there. In 2013 she won a bronze medal in the individual lightweight classification at the U21 World Championships and won the team classification with the Japanese team. In 2014 she lost to her compatriot Momo Tamaoki in the final of the U21 World Championships and won again with the Japanese team. After that she was no longer active internationally and was naturalized in Canada.

In February 2018, Deguchi won the Grand Slam tournament in Paris as a Canadian. In April 2018 she defeated the Brazilian Tamires Crude in the final of the Pan American Championships. At the 2018 World Championships in Baku, she lost to the Japanese Tsukasa Yoshida in the semi-finals . In the battle for bronze, she defeated the German Theresa Stoll . Her bronze medal was the first ever World Championship medal for a Canadian judoka.

In early 2019, Deguchi won the two Grand Slam tournaments in Paris and Yekaterinburg. In April 2019 she won the Pan American Championships in Lima. At the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, she defeated Bulgain Iwelina Iliewa in the semifinals , and in the final she beat Tsukasa Yoshida. This made her the first ever Canadian judo world champion.

Web links

• Christa Deguchi on judoinside.com
• Henry Young: Christa Deguchi: The judoka who could come back to haunt Japan on May 28, 2018 at cnn.com (accessed September 30, 2018)