SportsOlympicsCanada

Canada adds two more gold medals in another successful day at the Olympics

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Aug 10 2024, 10:26 pm
Canada adds two more gold medals in another successful day at the Olympics
Grace Hollars/USA TODAY Sports

Another day, another big showing for many Canadians at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

With today’s showing, they have set a new national record for the nation’s most medals in a non-boycotted Olympics.

Canada’s total of 27 medals ranks 11th amongst all countries, as does their nine golds. They will have one final day tomorrow to add to those totals, but first, let’s take a look at some highlights from Canadian athletes who competed in their respective events today.

Canada wins gold in canoeing

Starting things off on the right foot for Canada this morning was Katie Vincent. The 28-year-old, who is competing in her second Olympic Games following her first performance at Tokyo 2020, was able to pick up a gold medal in the women’s canoe 200m final.

Vincent not only won gold but set a world record with an incredible finishing time of 44.12 seconds. It was a photo finish, as she edged out USA’s Nevin Harrison by just 0.01 seconds.

Today’s victory marks the second medal for Vincent at this year’s Games, as she picked up a bronze yesterday in the 500-metre sprint canoe final along with Sloan MacKenzie. She was also able to pick up a bronze in the same event at Tokyo.

Canada wins first-ever breaking competition

In perhaps the most highly-anticipated event of the day, Vancouver’s Philip Kim, better known as Phil Wizard, put on a show in breaking. The 27-year-old, who admitted he had some self doubt yesterday, displayed none whatsoever, winning gold in the first-time event.

Phil was able to defeat France’s Danis Civil, better known as Dany Dann, in the gold medal final by a 23-4 score. He will continue to serve as the lone Olympic gold medal winner in breaking for some time, as the sport will not be a part of the LA 2028 Games.

Canada comes up just short in track

Edmonton-born runner Marco Arop came into the Olympics letting it be known that he had full intention of taking home a gold medal. The 25-year-old, who was racing in the 800m final today, appeared to be at risk of missing out on the podium entirely through the first 400m of the race.

Arop was able to storm back, however, and had a photo finish, much like Vincent’s race earlier in the day. Unfortunately, he came out on the short end, losing to Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi by 0.01 seconds. Though it wasn’t what he wanted, he was still able to pick up a well-deserved silver medal.

Canada’s Thomas Fafard also competed for a medal today, racing in the 5,000m. He came up short but still completed the event with a time of 13:49.69. The Canadian women’s 4x400m relay team also failed to medal, as Zoe Sherar, Savannah Sutherland, Kyra Constantine and Lauren Gale finished sixth in the event, posting a season-best time of 3:22.01.

Canada just misses podium in wrestling

Canada had a great shot at a fourth medal today, as Ana Godinez was competing in the 62kg wrestling final. Despite this being her first time in the Olympics, she was by no means an underdog, having won gold at the Pan American Championships in 2022 and 2023.

It wasn’t meant to be for the 24-year-old, however, as she fell to Norweigan Grace Bullen by a score of 11-0 after being pinned down early in the first period of the match. The loss was a heartbreaking one for Godinez, who remained lying on the floor in tears for several minutes afterward.

Canada has a strong finish in artistic swimming

Entering the day in 15th place following their duet technical routines in artistic swimming on Friday, Jacqueline Simoneau and Audrey Lamothe were able to put forth a much better outing today. The two scored a 290.9103 in their free routine, which served as the third best.

The duo wound up finishing the competition in ninth place with a total score of 492.4270. The two were also part of the group that swam for Canada in the team event, where they finished in sixth place.

Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell out in the quarterfinal

Last but certainly not least is Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell, who entered the Games as the reigning Olympic champion of the women’s sprint track cycling. The 30-year-old, who hails from Sherwood Park, was swept by Germany’s Lea Friedrich. Friedrich won the first race by 0.217 seconds, and the second by an even closer 0.052 seconds.

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