Montréal, February 5, 2012 – Several Canadian judokas were in action, Sunday, at the Grand Slam tournament held in Paris, France. Antoine Valois-Fortier (-81 kg) of Québec, and Amy Cotton (-78 kg)of Montréal, both saw their runs end in the 1/8 final. They still posted the best Canadian results of the day, finishing ninth in their respective categories.

In the middle of his second bout, Antoine Valois-Fortier was quite certain he had the Moldovan Sergiu Toma, bronze medallist at the last World Championships, right where he wanted him. Unfortunately for the Quebecer, Toma was able to force an overtime period with a strong finish in regulation time. “After the three minutes of extra time, the fight was still even. I ended up losing 2-1 on a split decision,” the judoka described. Despite the loss, Valois-Fortier was upbeat about his performance against a top-notch opponent. As well, the ninth place finish gives him valuable points towards qualifying for the Olympic Games. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but this puts me in great position,” the Quebecer added.