Olivia Schauer left Melbourne with the two medals that change how a weekend is remembered.
The American black belt won the women’s medium-heavy division and the open class at the 2026 Pan Pacific IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship on October 18, turning one of the region’s biggest annual tournaments into another important step in a season that has steadily moved her toward the top of the women’s gi rankings.
Schauer defeated Australia’s Tahni Jeynes in the medium-heavy final at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. She then returned for the open class and beat South Korea’s Yeongyeong Son, the light-division champion, in the final.
View the official 2026 Pan Pacific results
Two Finals, Two Different Questions
Winning a weight division and winning the open class ask different things from an athlete.
At medium-heavy, Schauer entered the bracket knowing she wasn't going to be the largest competitor (as the Open division goes) and the range of size and skill she would face. The open class removes those boundaries. It also placed her across from an opponent who had already proved she could navigate her own division successfully that weekend.
That made the second gold more than a repeat performance. Schauer had to reset after the first title, return to the competition area and solve a different matchup with no weight-class protection.
The result fits the competitive identity she has built throughout 2026: steady pressure, repeated tournament appearances and a willingness to enter open divisions rather than stopping when her weight-class work is done.
A Season Built Across Continents
Pan Pacific did not arrive in isolation.
Schauer won medium-heavy gold at the 2026 Asian Championship and took silver in the open class. She also earned bronze at the Pan Championship and collected multiple Open titles across the season.
The IBJJF currently lists her at No. 7 in the adult gi world ranking, No. 2 at medium-heavy and No. 5 in the open class. Those positions reflect accumulation as much as any single podium. They reward the athlete who keeps entering, keeps traveling and keeps producing results across different stages.
Melbourne added another clean data point to that body of work.
What the Weekend Says
The easiest way to describe Schauer’s Pan Pacific is simply “double gold.” The more useful reading is that she handled two distinct competitive problems on the same day and did so at a tournament with real regional history.
Schauer arrived as one of the season’s most active and highly ranked women at medium-heavy. She left with two more first-place finishes, another open-class win and a stronger case that her results are becoming a pattern rather than a collection of isolated weekends, keeping her stock rising on the competitive landscape.