Western Australia’s Timeo Tournier secured seventh place at the 2026 Lima Panamerican Open in Peru on Tuesday, 18 August.
The UWA Judo Club athlete returned to competition four days after making his IJF World Tour debut at the Lima Grand Prix.
Tournier competed in the 20-athlete Senior Men’s −66kg division, winning his opening contest before facing the eventual silver and bronze medallists later in the tournament.
The Lima Panamerican Open attracted 190 athletes representing 36 countries across five continental unions.
Opening victory over Emiliano Paz
Tournier began his campaign against Bolivia’s Emiliano Paz in the round of 16.
Paz opened the scoring with a yuko after 53 seconds. Tournier responded almost immediately, initially receiving a yuko of his own three seconds later.
Following a review, Tournier’s score was cancelled and upgraded to waza-ari.
Neither athlete added another score during the remaining contest time. Tournier protected his advantage through to the end of the four-minute match, securing victory by waza-ari and advancing into the quarterfinals.
Paz finished the competition unplaced.
Quarterfinal against eventual silver medallist
Brazil’s Ernane Neves awaited Tournier in the quarterfinal.
Neves made a fast start and brought the contest to an early conclusion, scoring ippon after 15 seconds.
The result sent Tournier into the repechage, while Neves continued through the draw with another victory over Venezuela’s Willis Garcia in the semifinal.
Neves reached the gold-medal contest, where Ecuador’s Jonathan Benavides secured the title. The Brazilian completed the competition with the silver medal.
Golden-score repechage contest
Tournier faced Peru’s Mateo Condor in the repechage, with the winner progressing to a bronze-medal contest.
Neither athlete was able to register a score during the four-minute regulation period.
Condor received a shido with only five seconds remaining, but Tournier was unable to capitalise before the match entered golden score.
The closely contested match continued for another 52 seconds before Condor scored the deciding yuko, securing victory after 4:52 of total contest time.
Condor went on to defeat Chile’s Reinaldo Caceres in his next match and claim one of the division’s bronze medals.
Tournier completed the competition in seventh place.
Timeo Tournier’s results
| Round | Opponent | Nation | Result | Opponent’s final placing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Emiliano Paz | Bolivia | Win by waza-ari after four minutes | Unplaced |
| Quarterfinal | Ernane Neves | Brazil | Loss by ippon at 0:15 | Silver |
| Repechage | Mateo Condor | Peru | Loss by yuko in golden score at 4:52 | Bronze |
The −66kg title was won by Ecuador’s Jonathan Benavides, with Neves claiming silver and Condor and Israel’s Omer Man collecting the bronze medals.
Venezuela’s Willis Garcia and Chile’s Reinaldo Caceres finished fifth, while Tournier and Paraguay’s Mateo Cabral shared seventh place. Official Lima results.
Valuable conclusion to Lima campaign
Tournier’s seventh-place finish concluded a valuable period of senior international competition in Peru.
After testing himself at Grand Prix level on 14 August, he returned to the mat four days later and overcame an early deficit to defeat Paz in his opening Panamerican Open contest.
Tournier then faced two of the competition’s eventual medallists. Neves progressed to claim silver, while Tournier pushed Condor into golden score before the Peruvian went on to secure bronze.
The result adds another international top-seven finish to Tournier’s 2026 season, which has also included silver at the Oceania Senior Championships and bronze at the Mandurah Oceania Open.
These performances have helped Tournier establish himself within the world’s top 60 athletes in the Senior Men’s −66kg division as he continues his transition into senior international judo.
Congratulations to Timeo on representing Western Australia and Australia across two significant international competitions in Lima.
