Nicolas Gill

Nicolas Gill, judoka (born 24 April 1972 in Montréal, QC). Nicolas Gill has been called a “legend” in the sport of judo. During his competitive career he won two Olympic medals and three world championship medals, as well as two gold medals at the Pan American Games and one gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He also won the national title 10 times. Since 2005 he has coached the national judo team. Gill was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Canada Games Hall of Honour and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

National Competition

Nicolas Gill was six when he had his first judo class and took part in his first competition. In 1986, at the age of 14, he won the first of his three Canadian youth titles, the prelude to a brilliant national career. The following year, Gill won gold at the Canada Games in the 54 kg category.

From 1990 to 2001, he accumulated ten national titles in three different categories: 86 kg (1990–92, 1994–96), 95 kg (1997) and 100 kg (1998, 1999 and 2001).

International Competition

In 1989, Gill won bronze at the Francophone Games in Morocco. Three years later, he took the silver medal at the 1992 junior world championships. The same year, at the Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, he won bronze in the 86 kg category, becoming the third Canadian Olympic medalist in judo.

In 1993, Gill won silver at the senior world championship in the 86 kg category. He would subsequently win two bronze medals at the world championships: in the 86 kg category in 1995 and the 100 kg category in 1999. He also won two gold medals at the Pan American Games in 1995 and 1999.

Nicolas Gill headed the Canadian judo team at the Sydney Olympic Summer Games (2000), where he won silver in the 100 kg category. The following year, he came first at the Grand Prix in Moscow and at the Francophone Games, and in 2002 he took gold at the Commonwealth Games and the World Masters in Bucharest. He finished second at the Pan American Games in 2003 and was the flag-bearer for Canada at the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens. Gill retired from Judo in 2004.

Coaching

Nicolas Gill began coaching the national judo team in 2005 and became head coach in 2009. One of his athletes, Antoine Valois-Fortier, won bronze at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, England.