Christa Deguchi was born in 1995 in Shiojiri, Nagano, Japan, to a Canadian father, Tom Taylor, and a Japanese mother, Yukina Deguchi.
His father, Tom Taylor, who is a photographer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, went to Japan due to his work and met his future wife, Yukina Deguchi, who is from Nagano, Japan.
After their marriage, the couple lived in Canada for some time but later moved to Japan because they felt life was better there.
🇫🇷🇦🇿帰国翌日に顔が傷だらけのまま収録に参加したよん✌️🤕🩹✌️ pic.twitter.com/d5sPrQQqLJ
— 出口クリスタ/Christa Deguchi (@10CMD29) February 20, 2024
The couple lived in Japan for almost two and a half decades and gave birth to two children, daughters, Christa Deguchi and Kelly Deguchi.
However, after some time, the couple felt their children were having a difficult time getting along in school. Also, they could not succeed in sports as international children, so the family moved to Canada again.
Tom Taylor travels around the world supporting his two daughters, Christa Deguchi and Kelly Deguchi
As Christa Deguchi and Kelly Deguchi represent Canada by competing with various international players, their father shows support to them by being on their side as he travels around the world to attend their every single game.
Further, Tom Taylor said he prefers to stay by their side if or when they need him.
He also stated that, as a non-Japanese guy, he naturally tends to stand up for his daughter in case something wrong happens, but he has now been trained not to do that as it is their ride, not his.
He said that over the years, he has moved up the levels and learned to be quiet, as simple issues can have a huge impact on his daughter’s career.
Therefore, as a photographer, Tom Taylor always sits in the background and takes pictures of their daughter playing, including other team members.
In an interview with the International Judo Federation, Tom Taylor was asked what is the worst part of being a judo dad.
先日は大好きな二人のお祝いパーティでした💐
— 出口クリスタ/Christa Deguchi (@10CMD29) January 28, 2024
愛が溢れてた🫶🏼💗
しかもドレスと手袋は花嫁の手作り👗🧤
当日は妹とMCも務めさせてもらっていい経験できたぜェアナウンサーはスゲェ!
友人紹介するとき友達の友達って言っちまってただの他人紹介しただけみたいになったゴメン。
末永くお幸せに🕊 pic.twitter.com/kbVZTzkjN8
He replied by saying, “Watching them process loss is really the hard part. It’s a dad’s job to rush in and fix everything.”
However, he also claimed he should not fix every problem of his daughter, as he had learned, “For them to grow as humans, they have to do things on their own.”
Therefore, Christa Deguchi’s father and mother first wait and judge the circumstances and only take the action when they think necessary.
Additional Information
- Christa Deguchi became the first Canadian Olympic Judo Champion by winning a gold medal in the women’s 57kg class at Paris 2024.
- Kelly Deguchi is Christa Deguchi’s younger sister. She is also a judo practitioner who represents Canada. Kelly Deguchi received a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games—Women’s 52 kg in Judo.
- Christa Deguchi started Judo at age three, and her sister Kelly started at age four after their parents thought sports would be better for building their confidence and protecting themselves.