Camryn Rogers of Canada competes in the women's hammer throw qualification at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 4 in Saint-Denis, France.Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press
HAMMER HOPES
Camryn Rogers of Richmond, B.C., is the favourite to win gold in the women’s hammer throw. Rogers, who entered the Olympics ranked No. 1 in the world in her sport, qualified first in her group for Tuesday’s final with a throw of 74.69 metres. Rogers is hoping to complete a Canadian sweep of hammer-throwing gold in Paris after Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., dominated Sunday’s men’s event. Rogers and Katzberg also swept the gold medals at the 2023 world championships in Budapest.
STAR-STUDDED QUARTER-FINALS
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canada into a men’s basketball quarter-final against Victor Wembanyama and France at the Bercy Arena in Paris. Canada went 3-0 through the preliminary round, but now must face a medal contender to have a shot at bringing home hoops hardware for the first time since a silver at the 1936 Berlin Games. Canada beat France 85-73 in an Olympic tune-up on July 19 behind 23 points from Gilgeous-Alexander. Serbia’s Nikola Jokic, Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid of the United States are among the other big names playing in quarter-final action Tuesday.
TAKING THE NEXT STEP
Calgary’s Caeli McKay looks to step on the Olympic podium for the first time when she competes in the women’s 10-metre platform diving final. McKay advanced by finishing seventh in Monday’s semi-finals after placing third in the preliminary round. McKay has twice finished fourth in the Olympic synchro 10m competition, including at these Games, and would love to go one step further on Tuesday. Canada already has one diving medal in Paris, with Saskatoon’s Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., taking bronze in men’s 10m synchro.
DYNAMIC DEBUT
Christopher Morales-Williams looks to build on his Olympic debut when he runs in the 400-metre semi-finals. The 20-year-old from Vaughan, Ont., qualified for the semis by finishing second in his heat. The 16th-ranked Canadian has the third-highest seeding of the nine runners in his semi-final, which includes No. 2 Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain. Regardless of the competition, Morales-Williams has already shown he is capable of putting down a competitive time. The reigning indoor and outdoor NCAA champion ran a time of 44.49 seconds at the SEC Indoor Championships in February. That was the fastest indoor time ever in the event, but was not recorded as a world record due to an issue with the starting blocks.
TOUGH TASK
Canada’s women’s water polo team looks to pull off a major upset when it takes on Spain in quarter-final action at Paris La Defense Arena. Spain, the silver medalist three years ago in Tokyo, cruised through the preliminary round with a 4-0 record. Canada was 1-3, but its win over China allowed it to take the fourth and final quarter-final spot in its group. Spain has won four successive matches over Canada, including a 12-9 victory at this year’s world championships.