A three-medal performance, including gold from judoka Christa Deguchi and swimmer Summer McIntosh, restored some shine to CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Olympic campaign tarnished by the ongoing soccer spying scandal.
Deguchi captured the countryB次元官网网址檚 first gold medal of the Paris Olympics with a victory over South KoreaB次元官网网址檚 Huh Mimi in the under-57 kilogram final on Monday.
Deguchi was crowned Olympic champion after Huh was flagged for a false attack in sudden-death overtime, giving her a match-ending third penalty.
The win was golden payback for Deguchi, who lost to Huh in the under-57 kg final at the 2024 World Championships.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a long journey to get here, and 50 per cent I believe it and 50 per cent I canB次元官网网址檛 believe what IB次元官网网址檝e done,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 very happy to bring the gold medal back to Canada, and to my family.B次元官网网址�
Deguchi, 28, lives and trains in Japan, the country of her birth. She has competed for Canada since 2017 through her Canadian father.
McIntosh, the 17-year-old phenom from Toronto, followed that with a golden performance in the womenB次元官网网址檚 400-metre individual medley.
McIntosh won decisively with a time of four minutes 27.71 seconds, finishing two body lengths ahead of American silver medallist Katie Grimes, who was over five seconds behind. Emma Weyant of the United States took bronze.
It was the CanadianB次元官网网址檚 second medal in Paris, following a silver in the 400-metre freestyle on the opening night.
Earlier in the day, the diving duo of Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens won the bronze medal in the menB次元官网网址檚 synchronized 10-metre platform.
Zsombor-Murray, from Pointe-Claire, Que., and ReginaB次元官网网址檚 Wiens finished third with a total of 422.13 points over six dives to claim CanadaB次元官网网址檚 first-ever medal in the event, and the first Canadian menB次元官网网址檚 diving medal since Alexandre DespatieB次元官网网址檚 silver in the 3m springboard event in Beijing 2008.
The Chinese duo of Junjie Lian and Hao Yang won the gold medal with a score of 490.35 points, while BritainB次元官网网址檚 Tom Daley and Noah Williams followed with 463.44.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know what to say. A dream has come true,B次元官网网址� said Wiens. B次元官网网址淢y last 17 years of being diving, and since we paired up three years ago, itB次元官网网址檚 been our dream to be here. To have won it, thatB次元官网网址檚 awesome.B次元官网网址�
Meanwhile, the drone spying scandal involving CanadaB次元官网网址檚 womenB次元官网网址檚 soccer team is now heading to a special Olympic court.
Canada Soccer and the Canadian Olympic Committee appealed a point deduction against the team on Monday, and the case is set to appear before the Court of Arbitration for SportB次元官网网址檚 special Olympic court in Paris in a closed-door hearing likely on Tuesday.
A ruling is expected Wednesday, before CanadaB次元官网网址檚 final group stage game against Colombia in Nice.
FIFA docked six points from the womenB次元官网网址檚 team on Saturday after a team analyst was caught using a drone to spy on New ZealandB次元官网网址檚 practices before the start of competition. The penalty also included a fine for Canada Soccer and the suspension of three coaching staff members for one year, including head coach Bev Priestman.
The appeal is the latest development in a scandal that has also seen the federal government withhold some funding from Canada Soccer.
On the water, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 womenB次元官网网址檚 eight rowing team will have a second chance to qualify for the final at the Paris Games.
The team, which took home the gold in Tokyo, came in third in its heat Monday morning. That means it will row in a repechage on Thursday. Several members of the team were on the winning eights team in Tokyo.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 womenB次元官网网址檚 basketball team got off to a disappointing start, losing their tournament opener 75-54 to host France Monday in Lille.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 will face world No. 3 Australia on Thursday before closing out pool play against 12th-ranked Nigeria on Sunday.
Boxer Wyatt Sanford, Kennetcook, N.S., was very impressive in his Olympic debut with a dominant victory over BulgariaB次元官网网址檚 Radoslav Rosenov in the menB次元官网网址檚 63.5-kilogram Round of 16 Monday.
The top-seeded Sanford will face UzbekistanB次元官网网址檚 Ruslan Abdullaev in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The beach volleyball pair of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, both of Toronto, scored an easy victory in their first match at the Paris Olympics, defeating ParaguayB次元官网网址檚 Giuliana Poletti and Michelle Valiente Amarilla 2-0 on Monday.
Over at the clay courts of Roland Garros, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., moved on to the third round of the womenB次元官网网址檚 singles tennis competition after knocking off SpainB次元官网网址檚 Cristina Busca in straight sets, 7-6 (4), 6-3, on Monday.
Fernandez later teamed with OttawaB次元官网网址檚 Gabriela Dabrowski to record a 6-1, 7-5 (5) win over FranceB次元官网网址檚 Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva in womenB次元官网网址檚 doubles. The Canadian duo will next meet the winner of a Tuesday match between neutral athletes Mira Andreeva and Diana Shnaider and Australians Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., had her Olympic debut end early with a 6-3, 6-4 second-round loss to CroatiaB次元官网网址檚 Donna Vekic.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic were eliminated from menB次元官网网址檚 doubles play on Monday with a tough first-round 7-6 (14), 6-4 loss to third-seeded Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in menB次元官网网址檚 doubles.
