The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

JUDOKAN Xavion Johnson showed that he’s ready for both the Central American and Caribbean and Commonwealth Games by winning the Tahiti Oceania Open 2026 in the men's -73 kilogram class.

The performance by Johnson over the weekend in French Polynesia, Tahiti, put the Bahamas in fifth place on the medal chart that was led by French Polynesia.

More importantly, it has now placed Johnson in the top 10 in the region, number 22 on the world junior ranking and 150 in the world in the senior rankings.

It was an achievement that he is confident will only propel him as he goes through the rest of the season. "It was a pretty decent performance. I was able to improvise on people's mistakes and worked on my ground techniques that I have been working on in practice," Johnson said.

It was not exactly where Johnson wanted to be, but he said he's taking it step by step.

"It was such a day for me," Johnson reflected. "I was able to take out my opponent in the first round and in the final, I got by my opponent rather easily, taking him down twice."

After the performance, Johnson said he will head back to Montreal, Canada, where he will take the next month off just to train and to get ready for the CAC and Commonwealth Games.

"I just want to continue to get better and better each day," Johnson said. "I just want to continue to develop more in the category, even though it's just been six months since I moved up to the senior level."

As he prepares for the CAC Games, scheduled for July 24 to August 8 in San Salvador, El Salvador, and the Commonwealth Games from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, Scotland, Johnson said it would be good for him to face some of the competitors whom he lost to in the past, just to prove his improvement in the international competition.

"I really want to put The Bahamas on the map in judo by winning the gold at the games," Johnson said. "I feel I am ready to win it.

"Now that I've won the gold here, this gives me a good advantage to go to the CAC Games and win there. It also gives me some points so that I can qualify for the Senior Worlds later this year."

Johnson says he's seen a lot of progress in his performances in recent times, but it only gives him the incentive to go after a world title or a grand slam medallist in the next year or so.

He thanked his mother, Ordain Moss, Bahamasair and his coaches Nick Tritton, Sasa Mehmedovic and Joshua White, who have been pushing him to get to the next level of competition.

He said he feels he's on the right track to succeed as a Bahamian judukan.