Two local athletes, Erica and Christina Paccione, who train at Kodokan Judo of Cape Coral, flew to France for the Harnes International Judo Competition.
The sisters were among 6 other Americans that competed. Each athlete was number one in their age and weight division in the USA. The tournament divisions were very large ranging from 9 to 50 in one division. On day one our American Team took home a gold, silver and a bronze medal.
Jackson Butler was undefeated in the 50kg division taking home the Gold.
Erica Paccione fought in a 17 person, -52kg division and won multiple matches by ippon (full point) with one win was under 12 seconds. She proudly took home the Silver medal along with a gift of an Adidas sports bag.
Mariah Holguin took home the Bronze.
Christina Paccione (11), fought up in age and weight. Her opponents had a 17 pound advantage and were one to two years older and she still managed to score some great throws but ultimately did not make it to the finals.
A few members of the USA Team traveled the next weekend to Lanester, France to compete and rose to the podium to collect their medals: Misato Sandoval - Gold, Rachel Butler - Silver and Jackson Butler - Bronze.
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