5 thrilling moments from London 2012
From soccer heartbreak to a rowing comeback
By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Canada failed to meet its goal of finishing top-12 in the overall medal standings at the 2012 London Olympics. Eighteen medals — one gold, five silver and 12 bronze — put Canada 13th in medal count. Despite the missed target in London, there were plenty of memorable Canadian moments. Here are five:
Semifinal heartbreak
Canada was 10 minutes away from a historic upset and a berth in the gold-medal game when an official's controversial call led to an Abby Wambach penalty shot pulling the U.S. even.
Alex Morgan scored in the 123rd minute for a 4-3 win in extra time for the Americans at Old Trafford.
A subsequent bronze was Canada's first Summer Games medal in a large-team sport in over a century. It was a footnote, however, to the dramatic semifinal and Christine Sinclair's hat trick for Canada.
Lone gold
Long in the shadows of three-time medallist Karen Cockburn, Rosie MacLennan stepped into the spotlight and onto the top step of the women's trampoline podium.
The fifth among eight finalists performing their routine, the five-foot-two dynamo from King City, Ont., posted the best score of her career to turn up the heat on the remaining three.
Triumph to tears
Crossing the line for bronze behind sprint heavyweights Jamaica and the U.S., the jubilation of the men's 4x100-metre team was short-lived.
Canada was DQ'd because third-leg runner Jared Connaughton stepped on the line marking the border of his lane.
Connaughton owned it taking "full responsibility". The bronze went to Trinidad and Tobago.
Rowing recovery
Lambasted by their coach for finishing last in their heat, the men's eight got their act together for the repechage and the final of rowing's showcase event.
Running third for much of the final, Canada blitzed the last 500 metres to blow past host Britain and take silver behind Germany.
Badminton brouhaha
Losers of their three round-robin matches and entering tourist mode, Michelle Li and Alex Bruce were catapulted into the quarter-finals when four teams got the boot for throwing matches.
The Canadians overcame their shock to beat the Aussies, but lost the semis to the Japanese amid chants of their new nickname "Bruce Li."
They fell short of the country's first Olympic badminton medal when Russia swept them in the bronze-medal match.