A total of 227 athletes registered in individual competitions and 70 in the kata category in the first classification event in route to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo - taking place at the Pedregal venue in San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, 10 kilometres north of San Jose.

Canada were second in the medals table with seven medals, three of them gold, with Brazil third on the same total but one fewer golds.

Osniel Solis, in the under-66 kilograms class, and Ivan Felipe Silva, in the under-90kg class, were the male gold medallists for Cuba, while three golds were provided in the women’s competition by Maylin del Toro at under-63kg, Kaliema Antomarchi at under-78kg and Idalys Ortiz oat over-78kg open class.

Canada’s golds came from Antoine Bouchard at under-73kg, Antoine Valois-Fortier at under-81kg and, in the women’s event, Christa Deguchi at under-57kg.

Diana Brenes won the only medal for the hosts, earning a bronze in the women’s under-78kg class.

"We are very happy, this is one of the four most important events in the continent and organising it in Costa Rica is a huge pride," Costa Rica Judo Federation President Dudley Lopez said.

The event offered competitors the chance to lay down an early marker prior to next year's International Judo Federation World Championships in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic host city of Tokyo.