Canada's Sophiane Methot celebrates with her bronze medal on the podium during the victory ceremony of the women's trampoline gymnastics final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on Aug. 2, 2024.LIONEL BONAVENTURE/Getty Images
A triple-medal day
A surprise bronze in trampoline set the tone on Day 7 at the Paris Olympics before podium finishes in tennis and swimming gave Canada its second multi-medal day of the Games. Competing on the eve of her 26th birthday, Sophiane Méthot of Varennes, Que., flipped and twisted her way to the podium with a score of 55.650 in the trampoline single-exercise final. Canadian athletes added two more bronze medals, with Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski taking bronze in mixed tennis doubles and Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., winning her fifth career Olympic medal with a third-place finish in the women’s 200-metre backstroke. Canada ended the day ninth in the overall medal count with 11 (three gold, two silver, six bronze). With medals in seven straight days of competition, Canada is two back of its longest medal streak to start a Games set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been leading Team Canada.Brian Snyder/Reuters
Canada undefeated in men’s basketball
LILLE, France Canada’s men’s basketball team remains perfect at the Paris Olympics after narrowly defeating Spain 88-85 to close out group play on Friday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Canadians with 20 points, while Andrew Nembhard added 18 points and two assists. Dario Brizuela put up 17 points and hit all five of his three-point shots for Spain, which fell to 1-2 and was eliminated from the tournament. The two sides were level at 19-19 at the end of the opening frame before Canada pulled away in the second quarter, thanks in part to eight points from Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Canadians took a 49-38 lead into halftime. The result leaves Canada atop Group A heading into the knockout round, which begins with the quarter-finals in Paris on Tuesday. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday and medal games are set for Aug. 10.
Gracia Alonso of Spain battles against Kacie Bosch of Canada and Michelle Plouffe of Canada.Pilar Olivares/Reuters
Canada women fall to U.S. in 3x3 basketball
PARIS Canada fell to 3-3 in Olympic women’s 3x3 basketball play following an 18-17 loss to the United States (3-3) and a 22-20 loss to Spain (4-2) on Friday. In the game against the U.S., Edmonton’s Katherine Plouffe scored a game-high 10 points in the loss, while her twin sister Michelle chipped in with four points and six rebounds. Canada, which sits fifth in the eight-team preliminary pool behind Germany (5-1), Australia (4-2), Spain and the U.S. They finish up pool play on Saturday against Azerbaijan (2-4). The top two teams in the pool advance to the semi-finals, while the next four take part in play-in games on Saturday. The tournament wraps up Monday with the semi-finals and medal games.
Canadian Ethan Katzberg of Canada reacts after competing on Aug. 2, 2024.Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Katzberg qualifies for men’s hammer throw final
PARIS Ethan Katzberg is off to Sunday’s Olympic men’s hammer throw final. The Nanaimo, B.C., native threw 79.93 metres to lead Group B on Friday at Stade de France. Rowan Hamilton of Chilliwack, B.C., also qualified with a personal best of 77.78 metres to pace Group A. Katzberg is the top-ranked hammer thrower and owns the world-leading mark this year at 84.38 metres, also the world’s furthest throw in 16 years. The 22-year-old is making his Olympic debut after breaking out in 2023 by winning gold at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Audrey Leduc, of Canada, wins a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France.Petr David Josek/The Associated Press
Leduc opens with Canadian record in women’s 100m
SAINT-DENIS, France Audrey Leduc left a mark in her Olympic debut. The 25-year-old sprinter from Gatineau, Que., won her heat and set a Canadian record in the women’s 100 metres Friday at the Paris Games. She shot out of the blocks for a time of 10.95 seconds – beating her previous Canadian record of 10.96 – to qualify for Saturday’s semi-finals with the sixth-fastest sprint at Stade de France. Leduc beat Jamaica’s Tia Clayton (11.00) and Britain’s Imani Lansiquot (11.10) in her heat. The top three finishers from each heat advanced to the semifinals. The final takes place two hours later on Saturday. Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast posted the best time of 10.87, her best of the season.