Tasha Cancela wins Gold as USA Judo Team gets off to strong start

The USA Judo Team got off to a strong start at the inaugural Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia winning four medals on the opening day of the Judo competition. Tasha Cancela led the way with a gold medal performance in the women’s under 57kg division followed by Jack Yonezuka with silver in the men’s under 66kg division, Sara Golden with bronze in women’s under 63kg and Nicholas Rodriguez with bronze in men’s under 73kg. Nicole Cancela (Tasha’s sister) finished 5th place in the women’s -52kg division. With her gold medal performance Tasha Cancela earned an automatic berth to the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

The remainder of the individual judo competition will take place tomorrow, Saturday, November 27th with the Mixed Team competition slated for Sunday, November 28th. The multi-sport Junior Pan American Games for athletes under the age of 23 years opened on Thursday, November 25 with the Opening Ceremony and will go through December 5, 2021.

2021 USA Judo Junior Pan American Games Team

To follow the competition via live stream, please visit:
https://www.panamsportschannel.org/cali-2021