Tami Goto’s first appearance on a major international stage may have been a humbling experience.
The Prince George judoka competed for Canada at the 2019 World Cadet Championships in Kazakhstan and came into the week hoping to go the distance in earning a first world medal.
Goto was ranked 70th in the world for her women’s -48 kg weight class coming into the three-day tournament.
She met her match, however, in the first round and lost a very close bout with Uzbekistan’s Dillola Dihkanboyeva that lasted nearly six minutes.
Goto, a member of the Prince George Judo Club, exchanged several pins with her opponent, but was thrown over onto the mat in the second minute of the contest and an Ippon point was awarded to Dihkanboyeva.
The 1-0 score would stand all the way to the referee’s final whistle, eliminating Goto and bringing her first World Championship experience to an abrupt end.
Earlier this year, she brought back home a bronze medal from the 2019 Canadian Open Nationals in Edmonton in the same category.
In April, Goto knocked down the competition at Judo B.C.’s Senior Provincials in the -52 kg division, earning herself a gold medal with a perfect 4-0 record.
She was one of four Judo B.C. athletes chosen to wear the maple leaf at the tournament in Asia.
Finn Schroder of Victoria was also done after his first round in the men’s -66 kg weight class, Jordann Warner of Campbell River was eliminated in the women’s -63 kg division second round, and Creston's Brae Booth has yet to start in the women’s -70 kg class.
