Canada ties national record with two more medals at Olympics

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Canada has continued to find success at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, picking up two more medals on Sunday and tying a national record in the process.

The medal wins today make it the ninth consecutive day that Canada has won an Olympic medal, tying the record for most consecutive days with a medal set at the Rio 2016 Games. It’s been an Olympic Games full of ups and downs for Canadian athletes, but they are finding ways onto the podium regardless.

Canada now sits 11th in the medal table with five gold medals, four silver medals, and 8 bronze medals for a total of 17 medals. This is ahead of 12th place Hungary and back of 10th place Germany.

At the moment, the United States sits atop the medal table with 71 medals, 19 of which are gold.

Here is a rundown of all the highlights from Canadian athletes today:

Hammer throw

The big Olympic news from a Canadian athlete came from 22-year-old Ethan Katzberg who dominated the men’s hammer throw competition en route to Canada’s fifth gold medal of the Paris 2024 Games.

This was Katzberg’s first time competing at the Olympics and he made sure to make an impression. His first throw nearly broke an Olympic record at 84.12 metres. This was all it took to stand atop the podium as no other competitor was able to break the 80-metre mark.

Katzberg became the youngest-ever Olympic champion in the hammer throw and the first North American athlete to win gold in the event since 1956.

Boxing

The other Canadian medal of the day came from the boxing ring as Wyatt Sanford took home a bronze medal in the men’s 63.5kg division.

It’s the first Olympic boxing medal in 28 years for Canada and came after Sanford lost a 4-1 decision in his semifinal bout against France’s Sofiane Oumiha. That may sound strange that Sanford won a medal after losing his last match, but Olympic rules hand out two bronze medals to the semifinal losers rather than have them face off in a separate bout.

This is a major improvement for Sanford, who finished 17th at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Swimming

After a historic Saturday at the pool, Canada was looking to end of their swimming events on a positive note on Sunday.

The lone event featuring Canadian athletes was the women’s 4×100 metre medley relay. Olympic breakout star Summer McIntosh headlined Canada’s team alongside Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus, and Maggie MacNeil.

Canada clocked in the second-fastest time in the preliminary heats on Saturday but just missed out on the podium in the final with a fourth-place finish behind the USA, Australia, and China.

It was an interesting race as Canada held second place going into McIntosh’s final 100 metres, but the 17-year-old wunderkind couldn’t stave off late pushes from the Australian and Chinese swimmers.

Penny Oleksiak, Ingrid Wilm, and Mary Sophie-Harvey swam in the preliminary heat for Canada and would have been awarded medals as well if they found a way to get on the podium.

Canada ended their time in the pool with eight medals won by four different athletes.

100-metre dash

Similar heartbreak on the track as it was in the pool for Canada earlier today as well.

Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse competed in the men’s 100-metre dash as he searched for a third consecutive medal in the event. The 29-year-old won bronze in both 2016 and 2020 but was unable to reach those heights as he failed to qualify for the final.

He came fifth in his semi-final heat with a time of 9.98 seconds.

A disappointing result in what has become a premier event for De Grasse, but it is far from the end for him at these Olympic Games. He will try to defend his Olympic title in the men’s 200-metre dash starting tomorrow and will also feature in the men’s 4x100m relay later in the week.

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