The Rio Grand Slam was my first international tournament since World Championships in late August 2009. I had prepared myself really well for this tournament and I was expecting a good performance. In order to advance on the draw I would have to beat one of the best judokas in the 60 kg division in my first round.

The 2009 World Championships will begin in only 3 days from today. The competition is scheduled for 5 days strating on August 26th until August 30th. The 60 kg division is schedule for the first day of competition. The Canadian team is composed of 8 athletes and 3 coaches. Here is the list of the athletes:

The 2009 Senior Nationals took place in Sherbrooke on May 23rd. This competition was very important for me since it was qualification for the World Championships in Rotterdam- Netherlands. I was looking forward to win Senior Nationals for the first time and claim my worlds team spot in the 60 kg division.

For the 4^th consecutive year, I traveled to New York for the 2009 edition of the New York Open. In the past three years, I won 3 bronze medals at this event and I was definitely willing to take the gold this year. The competition level was quite strong with more participating countries. In the 60 kg division, there were over 6 different nations, including Japan, France and Poland.

I headed to Vantaa- Finland to fight my second tournament of this short European trip. I had a good preparation prior to the Finnish Open since I participated in a 3-day training camp in Boras- Sweden. The 60kg division was schedule for Saturday and I was feeling confident about my performance. Competition started at 9 AM and I needed to warm-up properly for my first fight against Wayne Lomax from Great Britain. I fought fairly well in my first fight and I dominated most of the grips. I threw my opponent in the second minute for ippon with tai-otoshi.

I arrived in Boras- Sweden on Thursday, October 29th. Competition was schedule to start on Saturday for Men +100kg, -100kg, -90kg and -81kg. The Men 60kg was schedule for Sunday along with 66kg and 73 kg divisions. The weigh-in took place at 7:30 AM and competition at 10:00 AM. I was on the bottom side of the draw and I faced Denmark in the first round. The fight started off very well even and opponent was very aggressive. After the second minute mark I finally threw him for ippon with uchi-mata.