Canada's Sergio Pessoa reacts after losing to Brazil's Felipe Kitadai in their under 60kg final match at the Pan American Judo Championship in Montreal April 28, 2012. REUTERS/Olivier JeanOlivier Jean/Reuters
First-time Olympian Sergio Pessoa thinks he has the potential to make a surprise push onto the podium on Saturday, something a Canadian judo player has not done at the Olympics since 2000.
The 24-year-old first-time Olympian is driven to surprise people in his incredibly competitive under-60 kilogram weight class on day one of the London Games. His father Sergio Pessoa Sr. represented Brazil in the very same weight category at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul just three weeks after his son was born. Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, the Pessoa family immigrated to Canada in 2005. With his father at his side as his assistant coach Saturday, the Montreal resident will try to best his dad's Olympic result of 9th in Seoul.
Also in Pessoa's corner at ExCel Arena is coach Nicolas Gill, Canada's most decorated judoka. He earned silver in Sydney in 2000, eight years after taking bronze in Barcelona.
Pessoa is 15th in his weight class in the International Judo Federation's Olympic rankings. Statistically speaking, Gill says, history shows that one of the four Olympic medalists in judo has often come from outside the top eight-ranked athletes. Pessoa's first opponent will be Yerkebulan Kossayev from Kazakhstan, who is 13th in the Olympic rankings.
If he has a shot to become Canada's first medalist at these Olympics, he will have to make noise in an extremely competitive field and benefit from some upsets himself. he is contending in the largest class of the judo competition with 37 competitors.
Rishod Sobirov of Uzbekistan is the overwhelming favourite for gold. Below him, the anything seems possible with strong contenders from Eastern Europe, Korea and Japan.
The competition begins at 9:30 am London time (4:30 am ET).
Rachel Brady