Canada has a Pan Am Games record in sight
The team is close to its mark for golds at a non-home Games
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Last night, Canada captured its first two gold medals in track and field at the Pan American Games in Chile. Shot putter Sarah Mitton, a silver medallist at this year's world championships, dominated her event, and distance runner Charles Philibert-Thiboutot dove across the finish line to clip fellow Canadian Robert Heppenstall in the men's 1,500 metres.
Another three Canadian victories came early this morning on the water. Kayaker Michelle Russell won the women's singles 500m event, while Ian Gaudet and Simon McTavish (kayak) and Alix Plomteux and Craig Spence (canoe) captured doubles golds.
That gave Canada 40 gold medals at these Games, putting the team within sight of the national record of 47 for a non-home Pan Am Games, set in 1995 in Argentina. The Canadian record for any Pan Ams is 78 golds, set in 2015 in Toronto.
More golden opportunities await before these Games come to a close on Sunday evening.
The best one might be world champion Ethan Katzberg in the men's hammer throw final on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. The 21-year-old from Nanaimo, B.C., shocked everyone this summer by upsetting the reigning Olympic and world champions (both from Poland) to win the title in his worlds debut. Katzberg is favoured to do the same in his first appearance at the Pan Ams.
Jean-Simon Desgagnés is also a good bet for gold in the men's 3,000m steeplechase final on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. ET. His eighth-place finish at the world championships topped all athletes from the Pan Am region, and his time of 8:15.58 easily beats the season best by anyone else in Saturday's 13-man field.
Other Canadian standouts vying for individual gold over the final few days of the Games include 2021 Olympic canoe bronze medallist Katie Vincent and breakdancer Philip Kim, who can earn a spot in his sport's Olympic debut next year in Paris by winning the B-Boys event. Kim, better known as Phil Wizard, took gold at the 2022 breaking world championships and silver this year. LPGA Tour veteran Alena Sharp is tied for second through two rounds of the women's golf event while Etienne Papineau sits second in the men's.
The Canadian women's water polo team will play for gold Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET against the United States after rolling Brazil 21-4 in the semifinals today. The winner of the gold-medal match gets a spot in the Olympics. Same for the men's event, where Canada faces Brazil in the semifinals today at 5 p.m. ET.
Canada also reached the final four in women's softball, but its chances of advancing to the gold-medal game looked slim after today's loss to the United States dropped Canada's record in the "super round" to 1-2. The Canadians appeared more likely to play for bronze on Saturday. No Olympic spots are up for grabs after Paris organizers dropped softball from the program. But the sport will return, along with men's baseball, in 2028 in Los Angeles.
Canada's rugby sevens teams started strong today, with the women thrashing Chile and Mexico by a combined score of 105-0 while the men beat Brazil 22-12. Group play wraps up later today, and the playoff rounds take place Saturday. The Canadian women have already qualified for the Olympics. The men must win a last-chance qualifying tournament next year to get in.
Canada's hopes of securing Olympic berths in field hockey in Chile were dashed when the men's and women's teams both lost their semifinals. Now the men must win their bronze-medal game against the United States today at 4:30 p.m. ET in order to reach a last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament next year. The women have clinched a spot in their last-chance qualifier whether they win or lose their bronze match vs. Chile on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
How to watch the Pan Am Games:
Four different channels of live sports are available to stream all day, every day on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. You can find them here.
Today at 6 p.m. ET on those streaming platforms, CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis hosts a show featuring live events and highlights with a focus on Canadian athletes. The CBC TV network will have additional coverage on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, hosted by Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo. See the full streaming and broadcast schedules here.
