BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom –
Canada’s Shady ElNahas captured gold in judo at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday – but he had to beat his teammate to do it.
The 24-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., defeated Kyle Reyes of Brampton, Ont., to win the men’s 100-kilogram class. Reyes took the silver.
Marc Deschenes of Laval, Que., added to Canada’s judo medal haul with a gold in the +100 kilo category.
Kylie Masse, a four-time Olympic medallist from Windsor, Ont., captured gold in the 50-metre backstroke in a Games record. Josh Liendo of Toronto won bronze in the 50 freestyle, and Nick Bennett of Parksville, B.C., captured gold in the Para 200 freestyle.
Hollie Naughton of Oakville, Ont., won silver in squash.
ElNahas’s victory came the day after his brother Mohab won judo bronze in Birmingham. And because there were two Canadians in Wednesday’s final, the national team coach wasn’t in either athlete’s corner. So, Shady looked to his older brother for guidance.
“Of course my brother’s going to be on my side, so you could see I was kind of looking at him because he’s my mentor,” ElNahas said. “And he medalled (Wednesday), so I couldn’t let him one-up me.”
ElNahas, who narrowly lost out on a bronze medal at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, said the experience in Birmingham has been “pretty dope” by comparison.
“I was at the Olympic Games and we couldn’t do the opening ceremony or any of the activities,” he said. “So I’m glad I got to experience that here. It was amazing.”
His next goal, he said is to become the world champion in October in Uzbekistan.
“I was very close last year to winning it,” said ElNahas, who lost in the semifinals. “I think every year I just get better, and in a couple of months, I’ll be Canada’s first (men’s) world champion.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2022.
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