Sarah Mitton's shot put title highlights Canada's 5-gold day at Commonwealth Games
Swimmers Masse, Bennett, judokas El Nahas, Deschenes all secure top prizes
Sarah Mitton's gold medal in women's shot put on Wednesday highlighted Canada's five-gold medal haul at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England on Wednesday.
New Zealand's Maddison-Lee Wesche grabbed the bronze medal.
"The goal from the beginning was to go out and win it, and we achieved it, though not the way we expected," said Mitton. "The competition started out really rough and I started doubting myself mid-competition and pulled myself back… you just have to believe in yourself."
The 26-year-old Mitton bounced back from narrowly missing the podium at the World Athletics Championships in July, where she placed fourth.
"Being off the podium really wasn't something I wanted," she said. "I came here pretty hungry. I'm so excited to stand on top of the podium and have my national anthem play."
WATCH | Mitton strikes shot put gold:
Canadian athletes secured medals in the double-digits for the third day in a row, adding 11 more on Wednesday to push the country's medal count to 16 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze for a total of 57.
Only Australia (123) and England (103) have collected more podiums than Canada.
Team Canada swims to 5 medals
Canadian swimmers continued to shine on Day 6.
Kylie Masse finished the women's 50-metre backstroke final in 27.31 seconds to break her own Commonwealth record, which she set in the semifinal, and strike gold for her third medal of the Games.
The LaSalle, Ont. native edged Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan by 0.16 seconds. Kaylee McKeown, also from Australia, won bronze.
"The 50 is just such a fun event to just not really think and just go as fast as you can," said Masse, who won silver in the 100 backstroke and bronze in the 200 back at the recent world championships. "So I was looking forward to just racing as fast as I could tonight."
WATCH l Masse breaks own Commonwealth record en route to gold:
Earlier in England, Masse earned two silver medals in the 100m and 200m events.
Para swimmer Nicholas Bennett posted a Games record in the men's S14 200m freestyle with a time of 1:54.97 to take gold, edging Australia's Benjamin Hance by 0.53 seconds.
Jack Ireland, also from Australia, grabbed the bronze medal.
"I guess I haven't fully comprehended it yet, to be honest," he said. "I'm just absolutely ecstatic. [The strategy was] just hunker down. It started hurting by the 100-metre mark, but didn't really matter at that point."
WATCH l Bennett sets Commonwealth Games, takes Para swimming title:
Bennett secured one of his two silver medals at the Para world championships in June in the same event.
McIntosh grabs 5th, 6th medal of Games
15-year-old phenom Summer McIntosh capped her Commonwealth Games performance with two more silver medals in quick succession.
The Toronto native swam the women's 400m freestyle event in 3:59.32 to finish 1.26 shy of Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who posted a Commonwealth record in order to take gold.
Kiah Melverton took the bronze medal, coming 5.06 behind her Australian teammate.
WATCH l McIntosh swims 400m freestyle under 4 minutes for silver:
McIntosh then went right back to the water to help Canada's women's 4x100m medley relay team secure the silver medal along with Masse, Sophie Angus and Maggie Mac Neil.
The Australian team struck gold with a time of 3:54.44, 2.15 faster than the Canadians. England grabbed bronze.
McIntosh collected a gold in the women's 200m and 400m individual medleys, a silver and a bronze in freestyle relays in previous days of competition, adding to her recent success that includes four-medals at the world championships in July.
WATCH | McIntosh collects 6th medal of Games in relay:
Josh Liendo was another Canadian swimmer to make the podium, earning bronze in the men's 50m freestyle final.
Fresh off his first Commonwealth gold, claimed on Tuesday in the 100m butterfly event, the 19-year-old Liendo had a time of 22.02 on Wednesday to finish 0.66 behind gold medallist Benjamin Proud of England.
The hosts secured the silver medal as well, with Lewis Edward Burras finishing second.
WATCH l Liendo swims to men's 50m freestyle bronze:
El Nahas wins gold in all-Canadian judo final
Canadian judokas Shady El Nahas and Kyle Reyes captured the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the men's 100-kilogram final.
El Nahas, a 24-year-old Toronto native, edged Reyes by waza-ari in the golden score to take the title. He previously defeated England's Harry Lovell-Hewitt in a semifinal.
Reyes, who also hails from Toronto, downed Rhys Thompson of England to punch his ticket to the gold-medal match.
A waza-ari is the second highest score a judoka can secure, while the golden score serves, in essence, as a sudden-death overtime.
WATCH l El Nahas edges fellow Canadian Reyes for Commonwealth title:
El Nahas's victory came the day after his brother Mohab won judo bronze in the men's 81 kg event.
And because there were two Canadians in Wednesday's final, the national team coach wasn't in either athlete's corner. So, Shady looked to his older brother for guidance.
Shady El Nahas narrowly lost out on a bronze medal at last summer's Tokyo Olympics
"I was at the Olympic Games and we couldn't do the opening ceremony or any of the activities," he said. "So I'm glad I got to experience that here. It was amazing."
Marc Deschenes secures judo gold
Marc Deschenes added a second gold and a third medal of the day for Canadian judokas by securing the men's over-100 kg title.
The 29-year-old defeated Australia's Kody Andrews by two waza-aris in regulation time.
WATCH | Deschenes racks up another judo gold for Canada:
"I'm super happy," said Deschenes, who planned to celebrate with a couple of beers on Thursday night. "I finished second at Pan Am Games and Francophone Games so it was fun not to finish second again, but first."
Hollie Naughton takes women's singles squash silver
Canada's Hollie Naughton grabbed the silver medal in the women's singles squash final to become the first Canadian woman to win a medal in the sport at the Commonwealth Games.
Naughton, the world's 20th-ranked player, fell 3-1 to England's Georgina Kennedy.
The Canadian bounced back with a 14-12 win in the third game after dropping the first two 11-7 and 11-5. Kennedy won the final frame 11-5 for gold.
You dream of making these milestones for your country, and to walk with being the first-ever female medallist in squash is an unbelievable achievement," she said. "Hopefully in four years time I can make it a gold."
WATCH Naughton becomes 1st Canadian women to win Commonwealth medal in squash:
Zachary Gingras earned bronze in the Para athletics men's T37/T38 100m final for Canada's eleventh and final medal of the day.
He posted a time of 11.65m, going 0.42 slower than gold medallist Evan O'Hanlon. South African Charl du Toit took silver.
WATCH | Gingras wins bronze in Para athletics men's T37/T38 100m final:
With files from The Canadian Press and Athletics Canada
