Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard will be in her second Olympic Games. (Photo: Courtesy)
Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard is delighted that her selection for the Tokyo Olympics is official. Not that the judoka was afraid of not having her place; she was virtually guaranteed to be there. But between her recent successes and the long wait engendered by the pandemic, the one who is ranked 7th in the world in the category of 63 kg and less is feverish and feels she has the potential to obtain a medal.
While the athlete insists that she is focusing more on the process than the goals, she is well aware of what she can achieve at the Games.
“My main focus is on how I want to feel on competition day and how I want the weeks before the competition to go by,” says the arr wife. of Saint-Hubert. But I know all the girls out there, I have the potential to beat them. ”
She has also been full of confidence during her most recent competitions, where she notably won bronze at the Grand Slam of Antalaya in April 2021, and gold at the Grand Slam of Tbilisi in March 2021 as well as Pan American Championships in November 2020.
These results were for her the ideal preparation for the prestigious event.
“I was really happy with my results there,” she says. I found that it happened to a timing perfect for continuing my preparation for the Games and getting my gold medal in Tokyo. ”
For her, this will be her second Olympic Games, but her first in the 63 kg and under category. Despite everything, she believes that the experience of Rio 2016 in the 57 kg and under, where she was eliminated after her first fight, will help her for the next Games.
“I see it as a baggage, as an experience,” explains the judoka. Want, don’t want, I know a little what to expect, although it’s clear that it will be different in times of Covid. But on the stress side, I feel like I’m better prepared. “
Judo in times of Covid
Like all the other athletes, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard saw her routine turned upside down with the arrival of the pandemic in March 2020. She was forced to train from home for a few months, before Judo Canada sent her into the world. Western Canada on two occasions, where restrictions were less severe.
Then, when the National Institute of Sport of Quebec reopened for judo, she was able to return to Montreal to train in bubbles of four athletes.
“The small groups meant that we had very few partners,” she emphasizes. It was like that until very recently. When we came back from the last tournament, they created an Olympic bubble of about 20 people, guys and girls, all weights together. It really helped. ”
She said, however, that of all the restrictions, quarantines were the most difficult.
“I did it 4 times, for 14 days each time. So it’s almost 2 months of quarantine in total, she mentions. When the 2nd wave arrived, we were in a tournament in Europe and we had to come back because everything was canceled. It was just before the panams, so, I was in quarantine, I did the panams and I came back to quarantine. That was four out of five weeks of quarantine! “
“That annoyed me so much!” she admits today, laughing.
With the gradual relaxation of health measures, it is possible that Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard could avoid quarantine on her return from Tokyo. But let’s bet with a gold medal around her neck she wouldn’t care.
