Revenge was swift for Kimiko Kamstra.
Kamstra had a chance for a gold medal at the Canadian Open judo championships on Friday in Calgary. Instead, she settled for silver after a loss to Quebec's Andree-Ann Somers in the U-18 girls minus 44-kilogram division final.
On Saturday, Kamstra - in the same weight category - moved up to the U-21 women's division and battled her way to the championship match.
Her opponent, once again, was Somers. And this time Kamstra emerged victorious.
Kamstra trains at the Hart Judo Academy, where her dad, Bruce Kamstra, is head instructor. Papa was nearby for both of his daughter's gold-medal fights and said her ability to apply the lessons learned in the first bout to the second encounter with Somers made all the difference.
"She was able to adapt and adjust - to make a few changes," Bruce Kamstra said. "It was a pretty spectacular win.
"In U-18, she was having a little bit of difficulty with the gripping. (Somers) was kind of dominating her on the grip and she wasn't able to cope and then she was losing. So we just had to make a couple adjustments to her gripping strategy and, once she understood that, you could just see the confidence in her change. It was obvious she was going to win once she was able to control the grip."
The Kamstra family now has two national judo champions, as Kimiko's gold came on the 20-year anniversary of a Canadian title for Bruce.
"She did great," Bruce Kamstra said. "And I think she's capable of better."
Kimiko Kamstra couldn't be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Two other Hart Judo Academy athletes - Maxwell Young and Brooke Corbett - also landed on the podium at nationals. Young was a double bronze-medalist (U-18 boys minus 55kg and U-21 men minus 55kg), while Corbett took bronze in the U-21 women minus 48kg class.
Meanwhile, HJA athlete Koen Heitman (U-18 boys minus 66kg) was forced to accept a controversial loss in his semifinal bout and was then on the wrong end of the score in the match for bronze. He finished fifth overall in the category.
HJA members Ioan Frizzell, Lochlan Young, Davin Greenwood and Asher Young all posted 2-2 records in their divisions.
"This is our best performance as a club in our 20-year history and we are sure we will do even better in the years to come," Bruce Kamstra said.
Gabe Paterson of the Hart, who was featured in a Citizen story in advance of nationals, was only able to participate in one fight. He went 0-1 in the U-18 boys minus 50kg class and then had to withdraw because of an injury.
Members of the Prince George Judo Club were also on the mats at the Canadian Open championships, which were held at the Calgary Olympic Oval. From the PGJC, Sydney Edgson and Tami Goto earned bronze medals in their U-16 categories.
