Lowan Le Bris is golden once again.
Le Bris recently won a gold medal at the Cadet Pan-American Championships held in Rio de Janeiro at the end of April. Le Bris took gold in the under-66 kg weight class. In judo competition, the cadet age group covers 15- to 17-year-olds.
In the final match, Le Bris faced an Argentine named Reiver Alvarenga Soto. The contest ultimately went to extra time where Le Bris finally prevailed.
“Lowan was more offensive than his opponent,” said Jeremy Le Bris, Lowan’s dad. “He was doing all the attacks.”
When the gold-medal match was tied at the end of regulation, it entered what is known in judo as “golden score,” which is the equivalent of sudden-death overtime.
“Lowan was able to catch him on the ground after a strong attack,” Jeremy added.
Le Bris won the match 46 seconds into OT when he pinned Alvarenga Soto after that “strong attack,” garnering him the win.
Le Bris’s road to the final wasn’t easy. He defeated three fighters en route: Leonel Martinez Ruiz of Mexico, Alfredo Valdivieso of Ecuador, and Tobias Vidal of Argentina. In his match against Valdivieso, the pair battled each other for three extra minutes in “golden score” before Le Bris vanquished the Ecuadorian.
Jeremy said he was overcome with emotion when he watched his son win gold.
“I was very proud of him,” said Jeremy. “He (has been) working hard everyday and this a good accomplishment.”
The win was extra special for Le Bris as it was his first official tournament selection to Team Canada. It was also Le Bris’s first win at the cadet level.
With the win, Le Bris shot up 32 places in the cadet world rankings to number 4 overall for his weight class.
Next up for Le Bris will be the Judo Open Nationals in Montreal at the end of the month. After that he’ll jet off to Lima, Peru, for the cadet world championships in August.
The gold medal from the Rio competition adds to an impressive collection of hardware the 16-year-old Cloverdalian has racked up over the past few years, including a gold medal at the U18 Canadian nationals held in Edmonton earlier this year in January.