SportsOlympics

Canada on pace for biggest Summer Olympic medal haul in 40 years

Noah Strang
Noah Strang
|
Aug 7 2024, 11:52 pm
Canada on pace for biggest Summer Olympic medal haul in 40 years
Canadian Olympic Committee

Canada added yet another medal in what’s turning out to be a very successful Paris 2024 Olympics today.

With 19 total medals, Canada now sits in 11th place by gold medals and 10th by total medals, with four days left in the competition.

This puts them on pace for their best finish at a Summer Olympics since the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, where they finished with 44 medals, an event that more than a dozen countries boycotted.

Besides the sparsely attended Los Angeles Olympics, Canada’s best haul came at the most recent Tokyo Games, where they secured 24 top-three finishes. They’re on pace to beat that number.

At this point in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Canada had 16 medals, and it currently has 19. With four days left and events like canoeing, cycling, and athletics still left, Canada has plenty of opportunities to add to its total.

Here are all the highlights from Canadian athletes competing in Paris today.

Canada secures surprise pole vault medal amid busy day in athletics

Athletics stories dominated the day for Canadian athletes in Paris today.

The biggest result was a bronze medal for pole vaulter Alysha Newman. She set a new personal best as well as a Canadian record to earn the podium finish.

It was a huge performance that earned Canada its 19th medal in the Paris Games.

The 30-year-old had a ton of personality and celebrated the historic medal in style. The last time Canada won a pole vaulting medal was a bronze at the Stockholm 1912 Olympics, meaning it’s been over a century.

While they didn’t finish on the podium, Evan Dunfee and Olivia Lundman set a Canadian record in the race walk mixed relay. They finished 20th overall and the veteran Dunfee even had some fun during the race, sending out a social media post from his phone.

Mariam Abdul-Rashid has qualified for the 100m hurdles semi-finals. Michelle Harrison didn’t do as well during her opening race in the same event and is headed to the repechage round, where she’ll need to step up to advance in the competition.

The 5000m competition was filled with drama. Moh Ahmed, who medaled in the event at the Tokyo 2020 Games, was tripped during his heat with the finish line in sight. He took a tumble and fell back many spots, ultimately finishing outside the top 10. He filed an appeal, but it was denied.

That wasn’t the only crazy part of the competition. During another heat, a cameraman made his way onto the track and got in the way of nearly 20 runners.

Thomas Fafard qualified for the final, which will take place on Saturday at 1:50 pm ET/10:50 am PT.

Marco Arop, the 2023 world champion in the event, advanced to the semi-finals with a strong run in the 800m. He’s looking for his first Olympic medal after he came 14th in the 800m at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Lucia Stafford and Kate Current were eliminated in the 1500m race. Stafford delivered an emotion-filled speech following her event, which caught the attention of many fans across the country.

Three Canadian sprinters, including superstar Andre De Grasse, failed to advance past the semi-finals today in the 200m sprint. De Grasse came closest but still missed out by 0.1 seconds. After the race, he revealed that he’s been dealing with a nagging hamstring injury, which impeded his run.

 

Beach volleyball team guarantees themselves shot at a medal

The Canadian beach volleyball team of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson continues to surprise. They finished 1-2 during the group stage but have won multiple elimination games in a row, including a match over a strong USA team.

The duo beat a team from Spain today to advance to the semi-finals. Wilkerson came up huge with a clutch block in the second set to secure the victory.

They face off against a team from Switzerland tomorrow at 11 am ET/8 am PT. No matter what, they’ve guaranteed themselves a chance to play for a medal.

 

Canada will be well-represented in canoeing semi-finals

Canada experienced some success on the water today. Both Riley Melanson and Michelle Russell have qualified for the women’s k-1 500 metres race semi-finals. The next round of that competition starts at 4:30 am ET/1:30 am PT Saturday.

Connor Fitzpatrick qualified for the men’s C-1 1000m canoe race semi-final. He will race on early Friday morning before most Canadians are awake.

Canada will have multiple chances at cycling medals

Canadians have historically experienced a decent amount of success in cycling events. Today, both Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest won races in the women’s keirin to advance to the quarter-final.

The Canadian women’s team pursuit squad lost to Germany and Australia and finished eighth in the competition. The men’s team came seventh in their version of the event.

Josipa Kafadar produces solid showing for Canada in Taekwondo

Josipa Kafadar competed against Croatian Lena Stojković in an elimination taekwondo match. It was a Round of 16 battle between the two athletes, and unfortunately, the 23-year-old Kafadar came up short.

Stojković went on to win the bronze medal and made quick work of many other athletes.

Canada picks fun, upbeat music for artistic swimming performance

Canada finished in sixth place of 10 teams in artistic swimming. They have not won a medal in the event since the Sydney 2000 Games.

The Canadians used songs by hip-hop legends like Snoop Dog, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar during their performance. The lively music made them a hit with the crowd and on social media.

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