'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Jessica Klimkait was dealing with a mix of emotions as she slowly walked into a back hallway of the Nippon Budokan on Monday night.
She made history moments earlier when she beat Kaja Kajzer of Slovenia by waza-ari to win bronze at the Tokyo Games, becoming the first Canadian to reach the Olympic podium in women's judo.
But Klimkait, her eyes bloodshot and fatigue evident after four bouts on the day, couldn't hide her overall disappointment. The world champion in the under-57-kilogram division was reeling after coming up short of her ultimate goal.
"Right now I'm going to be emotional about missing that gold medal," she said, her voice cracking at times. "But I think looking back I'm going to be proud of myself because I know the last two or three years mentally and physically have been extremely hard.
"I honestly don't even know how I pulled myself through it. So I think I'll just be proud of myself."
Klimkait went to extra time against Sarah Leonie Cysique of France in the semifinals but lost by ippon when she was assessed a shido for a false attack. It was Klimkait's third penalty of the bout, and it gave Cysique the victory.
The 24-year-old from Whitby, Ont., blitzed through her first two opponents on the day, advancing via ippon in under two minutes each time.
But Cysique did well to counter the Canadian, who maintained her aggressive style throughout the match. Klimkait can throw from a variety of positions, but her opponent was able to neutralize her.
Both athletes had two penalties in extra time, but Klimkait mistimed a grip attempt and it proved costly.
"When that fight ended it was just like blank space for me in my mind," she said. "The realization didn't catch up to me yet. I still was in the fight until I guess I stepped down the stairs (from the mat) and realized I was going into the bronze final and not the real final."
Klimkait had less than an hour to re-focus for the third-place match. She said she "sulked a little bit" after the defeat before concentrating on the task at hand.
"At the end of the day I'm just happy that I was able to collect myself after that loss and come away with a medal," she said.
Canadian Arthur Margelidon had a chance for bronze in the men's under-73-kilogram category but settled for fifth place when he was submitted by Mongolia's Tsogtbaatar Tsend-Ochir.
"He got caught, he left his arm out, he got arm-barred," said national team assistant coach Sasha Mehmedovic. "It was not what he hoped for and not what he expected. He's devastated."
Klimkait battled through a knee injury in the pandemic-affected season last year and had been pushed by Canadian rival Christa Deguchi. Klimkait took the lone national entry for Tokyo in the weight class with her recent world title.
Stomping her feet on the mat before the start of competition, Klimkait immediately goes into attack mode. The opposition is forced to play defence right away and is often overwhelmed.
She opened with a victory over Bulgaria's Ivelina Ilieva and impressed again in a dominant quarterfinal win over Poland's Julia Kowalczyk.
Brimming with confidence, Klimkait is an imposing figure on the mat. Her speed stands out and her ease of movement presents a problem for opponents. Combined with her strength and aggressive style, Klimkait can be a handful.
Athletes emphatically walked to the mat to a blaring mix of rock and techno in the famous arena. The 11,000-seat venue is a combat sports shrine that has also hosted notable concerts by The Beatles and Cheap Trick.
A few hundred team officials were scattered around the mostly empty stands. Coaches and team officials barked orders from the side of the mat or the first few rows of seats.
Klimkait's result bumped Canada's Olympic all-time judo medal total to six (two silver, four bronze). It was Canada's first podium appearance since Antoine Valois-Fortier finished third at the 2012 London Games.
"That's obviously been a goal and a dream of mine, not only to attend the Olympic Games but to be on the podium," Klimkait said.
"Obviously the highest step of the podium would have been preferred, but I know that this is the first medal for women's judo in Canada and I'm happy that it's me."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.