Team Canada, front, competes in the women's eight repechages at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Vaires-sur-Marne, France.Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press
Canada’s defending-champion women’s eight rowing team has qualified for Saturday’s finals after finishing second in Thursday’s repechage.
The Canadians finished with a time of six minutes 4.81 seconds, slightly behind the American team that finished less than a second earlier.
Australia and Italy finished third and fourth respectively in the repechage and have also qualified for the finals, joining Great Britain and Romania who won their heats on Monday.
Denmark, finishing fifth in the repechage with a time of six minutes 22.21 seconds, was eliminated.
The Canadians are in Paris as the defending gold medallists in the event after winning at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The team returned four members from the Tokyo games: Coxswain Kristen Kit of St. Catharines, Ont., Calgary’s Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Toronto’s Sydney Payne and Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, B.C.
Five others – Abby Dent of Kenora, Ont., Victoria’s Caileigh Filmer, Maya Meschkuleit of Mississauga, Ont., Jessica Sevick of Strathmore, Alta., and Kristina Walker of Wolfe Island, Ont. – joined the returning members on this year’s team.
Follow the latest news and highlights from the Paris Olympic Games