Good morning. Cathal Kelly helps unpack the triumphs and tragedies of the Paris Olympics – more on that below, along with Loblaw’s push into health care and a date for a presidential debate. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Calgarians brace for another month of water restrictions
- MPs vote unanimously to obtain the recording of a ‘hostile’ investigative interview as part of their ArriveCan study
- As Russia returns U.S. prisoners, some detainees in China feel abandoned
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson book a spot in the beach volleyball finals.Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press
Paris 2024
Highs, lows and hammer throws
There’s been no shortage of spectacle at these Summer Games. First up: the whole rain-soaked, overstuffed opening ceremonies, where a Conciergerie’s worth of headless Marie Antoinettes gave way to Gojira’s heavy metal. Then, Canadian athletes – and, especially, Canadian women – stepped onto the podium everywhere from judo and fencing to rowing and rugby. Summer McIntosh is single-handedly responsible for 25 per cent of Canada’s 12 golds in swimming since 1908. Ethan Katzberg brought home a gold medal in hammer throw, and Camryn Rogers did the same the very next day. It’s all been a nice distraction from that unsavoury business with the drones.
We’ve still got three days before Tom Cruise rappels off the roof of the Stade de France and the Olympics cauldron is extinguished (or, sorry, the LED lights and misting nozzles are shut off). But that doesn’t mean that we – by which I mean Globe and Mail sports columnist Cathal Kelly, who’s reported from Paris these past two weeks – can’t dole out a few medals of our own. I rounded up some of the Games’s more overlooked contests and asked him to crown the champs. Here’s what he had to say.
Most compelling of the obscure events
“I believe the best has yet to be seen in this regard – breaking. We’re at the point of the Olympics where everything is beginning to feel lower stakes. It’s just a lot to watch. But I suspect the break dancing competition, which runs today and tomorrow, will be a big hit, especially with people who aren’t huge sports fans outside an Olympics. It’s a kooky event designed for maximum entertainment value. You don’t have to understand the nuances to enjoy it.”
Most overrated of the iconic events
“Boxing has become a millstone around the neck of the IOC. It got rid of its crooked federation, who then ginned up a gender controversy it knew would blow up during the Paris Games. It was at least a change of pace from the usual nonsense about fixed fights and corrupt officials.”
Loveliest view from a venue
“The obvious answer is the volleyball venue set in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. My answer is the view of the Calanques mountains peeking over the lip of the roof of the Stade Velodrome on a sweltering night in Marseille. A little more history in that second place.”
Liveliest crowd at a venue
“The usual story at an Olympics is that the marquee sports thrive, while the esoteric ones struggle to sell out the room. That wasn’t the case here. Everything held in Paris was packed. Every crowd was good. But the most electric had to be the swimming venue as France’s Leon Marchand was winning four gold medals.”
Lowest-key gold-medal celebration
“It seems to me that ebullience is out of fashion for fall in Paris. All the big winners were pretty low key – McIntosh, Marchand, Simone Biles, et al. Nobody went hog wild when they won. Nobody doing multiple laps with the flag or running into the crowd or fist pumping toward opponents. Reticence and quiet satisfaction are the order of the day.”
Third gold medal, NBD.JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/Getty Images
Least likely sport to make it to LA 2028
“Boxing again. If they don’t figure out their federation problem, they’re out. Second place – modern pentathlon. Nobody understands it. Nobody watches it. And yet it survives.”
Least polite Canadian
“They’re all polite at the Olympics, which is a bummer when you do my job. Even the soccer team, who were getting tossed against the wall like a medicine ball by the press, stayed polite. After one of the evenings in swimming, there was a logjam in the mixed zone. The Canadian women’s relay team was speaking. The men’s relay team was standing behind them. One American journalist turned to another and said, in a tone of wonder, ‘What are they doing?’ ‘They’re waiting,’ she replied. ‘They’re Canadian. They’re polite.’”
Most Canadian non-Canadian
“I vaguely knew about the breakout internet star of these Games, rugby player Ilona Maher, before arriving here. I had just assumed she was Canadian. Her shtick is often extreme self-deprecation, the sort that strikes me as very Canadian. But she’s not. She’s American. She is the least American American on the internet. Maybe that’s why people like her so much.”
Happiest fourth-place finisher
“I have yet to spot this mythical creature in the wild. Some may say they’re happy. They aren’t. Better to finish 50th than fourth. The only thing worse is being disqualified, meaning that you technically did not compete in the Olympics.”
Most tiresome Olympics cliché
“I learned a new one here while watching some competitions on French HBO: ‘Ce n’est pas grave’ (’Not a big deal’). Any time something goes wrong anywhere for France, that’s the French announcer’s verbal tic: ‘Ce n’est pas grave.’ Even when it is extremely grave. Even when the French competitor is getting dragged around the field of play like a wet mop. Don’t worry – France’s national cliché.”
Frenchest moment personally witnessed
“Every time they played La Marseillaise at a venue. Canadians might sing O Canada, but the French shout La Marseillaise. It helps that they have the best national anthem in the world. That’s not an opinion, but a statement of fact. When the song crescendos at the start of the second verse (’Aux armes, citoyens!’), it is chills every single time.”
Paris 2024
‘I didn’t come here for a medal. I didn’t come here for a podium. All I came here for was the experience.’
A sweet silver for Maude Charron.Amanda Perobelli/Reuters
Weightlifter Maude Charron is going home with a medal anyway – a silver in her new Olympics class. Skylar Park successfully battled for bronze in taekwondo yesterday, and Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson play Brazil for gold in beach volleyball this afternoon. After setting a national record in their heat, the women’s 4x100-metre relay team race in the finals today, while Andre De Grasse and the men’s team also contend for a medal. Finally, can Canadian Phil Wizard nab the very first gold in breaking tomorrow? For all our Olympics coverage, go to tgam.ca/olympics-daily.
The Shot
Everything they want in a drug store
Shoppers Drug Mart president Jeff Leger in a Burlington, Ont. store.Nick Iwanyshyn/The Globe and Mail
After buying Shoppers Drug Mart more than a decade ago, grocery giant Loblaw is now aiming to become one of the largest health care providers in the country. Read more about those plans here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: An Ontario court is hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by Selena Stronach, the granddaughter of auto magnate Frank Stronach, to hand over any documents the family business might have about complaints and settlements involving his alleged sexual misconduct.
Abroad: After months of losing ground, Ukrainian forces smashed through the Russian border in the Kursk region, opening up a new front in the two-and-a-half-year war.
Tune in: ABC confirmed that it will host both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for a presidential debate on Sept. 10.
Drop out: Ceramic artists across Canada are releasing small batches of products on social media – known as drops – to generate hype and boost sales.