Olympic medalist teaches next generation of fighters in Prince George

“When I heard she was coming to PG, I was like, ‘that’s crazy,’ because we watch her on the Olympics, we follow her scores and her world ranking and it’s amazing to have her come to PG and show us all her moves,” added Carla Van Zyl, an 18-year-old Judoka at the Hart Judo Academy.

Van Zyl and Beauchemin-Pinard know each other beyond this meeting, as Van Zyl has trained with Beauchemin-Pinard in the past and is actually moving to Montreal to continue training with her. Van Zyl is an aspiring Olympian, and Beauchemin-Pinard says she was really happy to come to Prince George to train with Van Zyl and everyone else.

“I think judo is like a small family when you get to the highest level, like you get to know everyone. I’m training with Carla (Van Zyl) here, and when she comes to Montreal I’m training with her. So it’s a small family, we know each other, and it’s nice to help each other. They (the Hart Judo Academy) asked me to come here, I’m like, ‘yeah, sure, why not?’ I would like to show my knowledge and I think they appreciate it,” Beauchemin-Pinard said.

Van Zyl has built an impressive resume for herself as she pursues her Olympic dreams, which includes a recent bronze medal at the Junior Pan-Am Games hosted in Paraguay.

“It was just an amazing feeling to represent Canada, I was so happy that I could be a Canadian on the podium and show that Canada has good judo, it’s really awesome,” Van Zyl said.

Van Zyl will be leaving for Montreal on August 27 to begin training with Beauchemin-Pinard, and she can’t wait to embark on her next step of her judo career.

“I’m so excited to train with the best of the best. Catherine, Jessica (Klimkait, also an Olympic bronze medalist) is going to be there, all these Olympians who are representing Canada on such a high level and there judo is so good. I’m just so excited to be able to train with them and learn from them and compete eventually, hopefully, on the same stage as them,” Van Zyl said.

Beauchemin-Pinard says it takes relentless dedication and a true love of the sport to reach the Olympic level, highlighting that you have to love the daily consistency and not just the accolades and medals that come with it. As for whether or not Van Zyl has what it takes, Beauchemin-Pinard says tim will tell, but the determination is certainly there.

“She will move to Montreal to train with us, so I’m pretty sure that she’ll get better and she’ll get more experience and fighting and training. She just needs to be constantly learning and growing, and if she follows that path, I think she should have a good chance,” Beauchemin-Pinard said.

“She has done it all, so hearing that from her gives you so much confidence because I’m trying to follow her exact path to Olympics if I can. She has all these Grand Slam medals, twice world champion, which was insane. I can see how she got there, and if I could follow in her footsteps that would be amazing,” Van Zyl said.

As for what drove Beauchemin-Pinard’s love of the sport and her dedication to the daily grind? She says that she loves the fighting obviously, but she really enjoys the judo community and all the people she’s met.

“it’s like a second family for me. I met so many good people, so many friends So it’s more the contact with people. I think the connections you can make in judo is what I like. And the fighting, of course,” she said.

Beauchemin-Pinard will be leaving Prince George on August 22, and will soon be followed by Van Zyl, who is leaving for Montreal on August 27.

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by Tommy Osborne

Olympic medalist teaches next generation of fighters in Prince George

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