Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes hits the sand as she watches her return shot in a beach volleyball match against the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 5 in Paris.Robert F. Bukaty/The Associated Press
Medal streak ends
The Maple Leaf was not raised on Day 10 of the Paris Olympics after Canadian athletes were held off the podium for the first time at the Games. The women’s 3x3 basketball team had given hope that Canada would stretch its opening medal streak to a record 10 days when it led the United States halfway through its bronze-medal game. But the Canadians couldn’t hang on, meaning Canada would hold at 17 medals (five gold, four silver, eight bronze) entering the final six days of competition. The nine straight days of winning a medal after the opening ceremony equal Canada’s performance at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. The medal drought isn’t expected to last long. Camryn Rogers of Richmond, B.C., is the heavy favourite to win gold in the women’s hammer throw on Tuesday. And several Canadian athletes set themselves up for potential medals down the road with strong performances Monday.
Humana-Parades, Wilkerson into beach volleyball quarter-final
Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are through to the quarter-finals of the women’s beach volleyball competition at the Paris Olympics after a 2-0 upset of Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss in the Round of 16 on Monday. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, both from Toronto, posted set scores of 21-19, 21-18 in the victory over the Americans, who entered the match ranked second in the world. The Americans made it tight at the end of the second set, when a block by Kloth evened the score at 18-18. Wilkerson responded with a block, then Canada won the next two points with Humana-Pareres serving. The fourth-seeded Canadians advanced to the Round of 16 with a 2-0 win in the “lucky loser” round over Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova of Czechia after finishing third in their group. They will next face Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno on Wednesday.
Caeli McKay to compete in women’s 10m final
Canadian diver Caeli McKay will be competing in the women’s 10-metre platform final at the Paris Olympics. McKay, of Calgary, finished seventh out of 18 in the semi-final on Monday after scoring a total of 308.85 over five dives. China’s Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi topped the scoreboard, with 421.05 and 403.05 respectively, with Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix coming in third with 367.00. The top 12 advanced to Tuesday’s final. The scores from the semi-final do not carry over but determine the diving order, which will be the reverse of the semi-final ranking. Heading into the finals, the 25-year-old McKay frames the competition as China versus everyone else, with everyone else chasing bronze. Ottawa’s Kate Miller was eliminated in the preliminary round earlier on Monday, coming in 20th. Earlier this week, McKay and Miller fell just short of the podium with a fourth-place finish in women’s 10-metre synchronized diving.
Katzberg hopes Rogers can lift Canada to double gold in hammer throw
After Ethan Katzberg won the men’s hammer throw at the Paris Olympics, it’s Camryn Rogers’s turn to go for gold in the women’s event. The two athletes put Canada on the map as a hammer throw nation by sweeping the top of the podium at last year’s world championships in Budapest, Hungary. They’re partway to holding up that reputation in Paris, and Katzberg is excited about what double Olympic gold could mean for the sport back home. “It happened last year in Budapest, and then for it to happen in the Olympics, that would be incredible for hammer throw in Canada and just athletics in general,” Katzberg said Monday. Katzberg, a 22-year-old from Nanaimo, B.C., dominated the competition Sunday with a winning throw of 84.12 metres on his first attempt. Earlier Sunday, the 25-year-old Rogers of Richmond, B.C., won her group with a throw of 74.69 metres, the second furthest throw of the day, to advance to Tuesday’s final.
Canadians advance in pole vault, steeplechase
Alysha Newman advanced into her first Olympic women’s pole vault final. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.55 metres on her first attempt in qualifying action to advance. Qualifying for Wednesday’s final required clearing 4.70 metres or being among the top 12 performers. Newman was one of 11 vaulters to clear the 4.55 mark. Newman is the Canadian record holder at 4.83 metres and is in her third Olympics. Saskatoon’s Anicka Newell did not qualify after failing to get over the bar on all three of her attempts at 4.55. Jean-Simon Desgagnes also qualified for the men’s 3,000-metres steeplechase final on Monday. The 26-year-old from Quebec City finished fifth in Heat 3 with a time of 8 minutes 25.28 seconds to take the last qualifying spot in his heat for Wednesday’s final.