A Williams Lake judo athlete has been selected by Judo Canada to compete at the upcoming Elite 8 Judo Tournament in Montreal this month.
Kai Richardson, 17, was chosen as a wildcard as one of the top eight athletes in each weight category in the under 18 division and will compete against judokas from throughout Canada in an attempt to win a national title.
Kai is slated to leave today, Jan. 6, to train for four days at the national training centre in Montreal and will begin competition at the Elite 8 on Jan. 11.
In preparation for the event, Kai has been training in Burnaby at the provincial judo training centre alongside Sensei and provincial coach Jeremy Le Bris.
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Le Bris is a former French national champion in France. His most recent success was as a coach of the Canadian women’s Olympic team as Canada’s national judo program is continuing to work on athlete development at both youth and senior levels resulting in medals on the world scene and, provincially, medals on the national scene for B.C. athletes.
The Elite 8 Judo Tournament will be streamed online and will be commentated across two afternoons of fights.
For anyone interested in watching Kai, he is competing in the under 18, 73 kilogram division. Draws will be available at https://judocanada.tv/tiragedraw/
Streaming will be available at https://judocanada.tv/Live%20Streaming/
Members of the Canadian national team, meanwhile, will also compete in the senior division at the tournament.
sports@wltribune.com
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