Canada's 3x3 basketball team improves to 3-1 in group play at Paris Olympics
Canadian Wyatt Sanford guaranteed boxing medal with quarterfinal victory
Canada bounced back from a loss to Germany with a win over France in the Olympic women's 3x3 basketball tournament Thursday.
Katherine Plouffe had four points and six rebounds, twin sister Michelle Plouffe had three points and five rebounds and Paige Crozon pitched in four points in a 13-9 win over France as Canada improved to 3-1 in pool play.
Earlier, the Canadians dropped a 19-15 decision to Germany for their first loss.
"We know it will be a long tournament and for a team to come out 7-0 would have been crazy," Michelle Plouffe said. "We just moved on from it.
"It was like two separate days, that is how we prepared."
highlights from another win for Team Canada 🍁<br><br>the 3x3 Women's National Team will be back in action tomorrow vs. USA at 12:00 pm ET / 9:00 am PT<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/3x3WNT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#3x3WNT</a><a href="https://t.co/llCtsPr9Aj">pic.twitter.com/llCtsPr9Aj</a>
—@CanBballCanada jumped out to a 5-0 lead. France pulled within two points twice, but never took the lead.
The Canadians were 9-for-16 on one-point shots but missed all six of their two-point attempts against the hosts.
"It is always tough to play France. The home atmosphere was so loud that we could not hear each other," Michelle Plouffe said. "It was an awesome crowd and it was fun to play."
Against Germany, the Canadians were chasing from behind for most of the game after their opponents got out to leads of 6-0 and 7-1 in the opening minutes.
Canada would then go on a run to tie the game at 7-7 capped by a shot by Kacie Bosch, and the teams would exchange leads as the score was 10-10 with 3:44 left in the game.
That was when the Germans would pull away again, going on a 9-2 run in the final minutes to push the score to 19-12 with 31 seconds left, putting the game out of reach for the Canadians.
Canada did not shoot as well as Germany did in the matchup, with the Canadians hitting 53 per cent of their one-point shots and 25 per cent of their two-pointers. Meanwhile, Germany shot 67 per cent on one-point shots and 57 per cent on their two-point attempts.
Michelle and Katherine Plouffe of Edmonton scored five points each. Germany was paced by Sonja Greinacher with eight points and Elisa Mevius with seven.
Wyatt Sanford guaranteed a boxing medal
Wyatt Sanford will be bringing home a medal from the Paris Olympics – it's just a matter of which colour it will be.
The Canadian boxer won his quarterfinal against Uzbekistan's Ruslan Abdullaev in the men's 63.5-kilogram weight class on Thursday, sending Sanford to the semifinals and guaranteeing him a medal result.
Semifinal bout losers both receive bronze.
"It feels amazing. I am sure it will kick in when I meet my parents soon," Sanford said of being assured a medal.
"I'm super excited and super thrilled that we were able to bring home a medal for Canada in boxing. It hasn't been done for 28 years."
Sanford, of Kennetcook, N.S., will face Sofiane Oumiha of France on Sunday (6:30 a.m. ET on CBC Gem, CBC Olympics app). If he wins, he will fight for gold on Aug. 7.
"It was a great fight. Never count me out after the first round," said Sanford, who was trailing his opponent at that time. "I'm used to losing the first round, but it's my heart, my cardio that will push through, so I could win the second and the third."
WATCH | Sanford punches his way to an Olympic medal:
Mayer joins LePage on decathlon sideline
World record holder Kevin Mayer of France has been ruled out of the Olympic decathlon due to a thigh injury, the French Olympic Committee said Thursday.
The two-time Olympic silver medallist picked up the injury as he fell heavily during the 110-metre hurdles leg of a triathlon at the Paris Diamond League earlier this month.
Mayer, whose record of 9,126 points has stood since 2018, explained he had not fully recovered from the injury.
"Unfortunately, the tests weren't conclusive, and they don't give us any hope of being competitive tomorrow. That's the law of sport and it's tough. I won't be at the start of the decathlon," the 32-year-old wrote on Instagram.
On Tuesday, Mayer said he was giving himself a 10 per cent chance of taking part in the Olympics.
The decathlon gets underway on Friday with the 100 at 4:05 a.m. ET.
Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ont., will also be absent from the event due to a herniated disc suffered in April. The reigning world champion needs back surgery.
Damian Warner of London, Ont., is the defending Olympic champion in the decathlon and will compete in Paris after capturing an historic eighth Hypo Meeting title in May.
Dunfee places 5th in 20 km race walk
Canada's Evan Dunfee walked his way to fifth place in the 20-kilometre men's race walk Thursday as athletics got underway at the Paris Olympics.
The Richmond, B.C. athlete finished the race in a time of one hour 19 minutes 16 seconds, 21 seconds behind gold medallist Brian Daniel Pintado of Ecuador.
Pintado won in a time of 1:18:55, followed by Caio Bonfim of Brazil and Alvaro Martin of Spain.
Dunfee was trying to capture his second Olympic medal to follow up the bronze he won in the 50-kilometre event at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
WATCH | Dunfee finishes 5th in men's 20km race walk at Paris 2024:
After the race, a visibly exhausted Dunfee congratulated his fellow athletes before sinking into a crouch in a corner, pouring sweat and taking deep breaths. As he leaned on a metal barricade for support, he told reporters he'd given it his all.
"I just kept telling myself, 'just leave nothing out there,"' he said. "Make sure you cross that finish line proud of yourself, and I did that. I did that. I can't ask for anything more than that."
That bronze was Canada's first-ever Olympic medal in the longest athletics event, which is no longer on the program.
Dunfee will also compete alongside his student and fellow B.C. athlete Olivia Lundman in the mixed race walk event that's making its debut in Paris.
Bansley, Bukovec eliminated in beach volleyball
First-year beach volleyball partners Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec lost 21-10, 21-16 to Australia's Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Soler and will not advance to the Round of 16.
The Canadians exit the women's Olympic tournament without a victory in three matches and dropped each of their six sets at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris.
They qualified for these Games in June by claiming top spot in the NORCECA tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
"Our year has been difficult," Bukovec, a 28-year-old Olympic rookie from Toronto, told CBC Sports. "We've gone through a lot of challenges, a lot of adversity and we managed to come out on top, and on top for us is qualifying [for the Olympics]. For us to be here and compete against the best in the world was an accomplishment in itself.
"It didn't go the way that we wanted but I'm proud of the way we fought to be able to get here."
An emotional Bansley described what it meant to have her mom, Ann, watching her first Olympic match in person on Thursday.
"It's really special," said the younger and teary-eyed Bansley. "She has been with me on my sport journey since Day 1. It's been a tough year for her. She was diagnosed with cancer so for her to be able to be here in the crowd, with me, is special."
Bansley and Bukovec plan to take a couple of weeks of downtime to visit with family and friends before resuming their beach volleyball journey.
Bansley and Bukovec opened the tourney on Saturday against Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and suffered a 2-0 defeat (21-17, 21-14).
Two days later, China's Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi downed the Canadians 21-15, 21-19.
WATCH | Full coverage of Bansley and Bukovec's final match in Paris:
Canada qualifies for final in women's 8 rowing
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.
"We really stuck to our rhythm, we didn't do anything different from what we had planned," said Abby Dent, 22, from Kenora, Ont. "In an Olympic year you don't really get many races, so every race is another opportunity to fine-tune.
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.
Canada suffers 1st loss in women's 3x3 basketball
Canada fell to 2-1 in the Olympic women's 3x3 basketball tournament after dropping a 19-15 decision against Germany.
The Canadians were chasing from behind for most of the game after Germany got out to leads of 6-0 and 7-1 in the opening minutes and later held a 15-10 advantage.
That was when the Germans would pull away again, going on a 9-2 run in the final minutes to push the score to 19-12 with 31 seconds left, putting the game out of reach for the Canadians.
Canada did not shoot as well as Germany did in the matchup, with the Canadians hitting 53 per cent of their 1-point shots and 25 per cent of their 2-pointers. Meanwhile, Germany shot 67 per cent on 1-point shots and 57 per cent on their 2-point attempts.
The Canadian side was led by twin sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe of Edmonton, who scored five points each. Germany was paced by Sonja Greinacher with eight points and Elisa Mevius with seven.
Canada will next face France (0-2) at 4 p.m. ET.
U.S. wins 1st Olympic gold in men's 4 rowing since 1960
When Liam Corrigan yelled out "red!" entering the final stages of the regatta, the rest of the American crew knew it was time to go hard.
They all gave it an extra push, picking up the pace just in time to fend off an attack from their rivals and secure the United States its first rowing gold medal in the men's four class since 1960. It also was the first rowing gold for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics.
Corrigan, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Nick Mead won the elusive gold on Thursday by beating out New Zealand and defending world champion Britain.
"When you make that call, `red!,' you see `red,"' Best said. "You put your bowball out in front, some of the bigger strokes that you take in the race. Liam made that call `red!' and I went with him, and I know Nick went and I could see Brady going because he's right in front of me.
The last time the U.S. men's four had stood on the Olympic podium was in 2012 in London, where it won bronze.
All four Americans who got the gold on Thursday were at the Tokyo Games three years ago but left without any medals. Best, Mead and Corrigan finished fourth in the eight class and Grady finished fifth in the four.
The four rowers have been together since last season, winning silver at the world championships last year and gold at the world cup race in Lucerne earlier this year.
"It's literally unbelievable," Corrigan said. "I crossed the line, I thought I was going to have some kind of celebration, but I was just in disbelief, like my hands were on my head. It was just crazy."
The women's four gold medal went to the Dutch crew, who edged Great Britain by just 0.18 seconds with a time of 6:27.31. New Zealand rounded out the podium in 6:29.08.
In other rowing results, Romania captured the Olympic title in men's double sculls (6:12.58), while the Netherlands (6:13.92) and Ireland (6:15.17) claimed silver and bronze.
New Zealand topped the podium in the women's double sculls final in a time of 6:50.45, beating silver medallist Romania by 0.24 seconds. Great Britain finished third (6:53.22).
Sailing medal races postponed due to lack of wind
The first medal races for sailing at the Paris Olympics were postponed on Thursday because of a lack of wind, leaving athletes broiling in the heat on the water for more than two hours before sending them back to the marina in Marseille.
"It was an emotional roller coaster," said Isaac McHardie of New Zealand, which was third entering the medal race for the men's skiffs called 49ers. He added that the heat was so intense he and boatmate Will McKenzie started running out of drinking water and ice while waiting.
Both the men's and women's skiffs, known as 49erFX — powerful, bird-like two-person boats — were scheduled to hold their finals Thursday, but they were called off after 5 p.m. local time.
They were rescheduled for Friday, when the wind forecast remained a concern and the windsurfing men's and women's medal races were also on the agenda.
With files from CBC Sports and The Associated Press' Tales Azzoni
