Where would Canada be without the women at the Paris Olympics? One thing is for sure, it would have four fewer medals on the board this week.
Quebec’s Maude Charron won the silver medal in weightlifting and Skylar Park followed with a bronze medal in taekwondo on Thursday.
The two medals follow the gold won in the hammer throw by Camryn Rogers on Tuesday and the bronze won in the pole vault by Alysha Newman on Wednesday.
Charron finished second in the 59 kilograms category, lifting 106 kg in the snatch and 130 kg in the clean and jerk for a total weight of 236 kg.
Aged 31, Charron won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, but in the 64 kg category. The category has since been eliminated from the Olympic program.
Park finished third in the 57 kilograms category after defeating Lebanon’s Laetitia Aoun 2-0.
It was Canada’s first taekwondo medal since Karine Sergerie won silver at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Park qualified for the bronze medal match with a 2-0 win over Turkey’s Hatice Kubra Ilgan 2-0 in the repechage.
Park is ranked third in the world in her weight class. She was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
During this emotional day, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson also secured another medal for Canada.
The Toronto duo beat Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner 14-21, 22-20, 15-12 in the semifinals at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, earning their spot in the women’s beach volleyball final.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson became the first Canadian beach volleyball team – women’s or men’s – to reach the final of an Olympic tournament.
Canada’s previous best finish at the women’s Olympic tournament was fifth at the 2021 Tokyo Games. The Maple Leaf reached the men’s podium at the 1996 Atlanta Games, when Mark Heese and John Child won bronze.
Canada has had success at the Stade de France recently, with three medals since Sunday, and has moved a step closer to more medals in a few athletics disciplines.
The two 4 x 100 metre relay teams notably reached the final thanks to a good result in their respective semi-finals.
Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Audrey Leduc, Sade McCreath and Jacqueline Madogo took fourth place in their heat with a time of 42.50 seconds, which is a national record.
Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney then teamed up to finish third in their heat, with a time of 38.39 seconds.
Sarah Mitton also set the tone for the women’s shot put final. She finished her qualifications with a throw of 19.77 metres, the best in her group and among all the athletes entered.
In the women’s 400-metre hurdles final, Savannah Sutherland finished seventh in her Olympic debut. At 21, she is the Canadian record holder in the event.
At the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, Katie Vincent and Sophia Jensen were busy during the women’s single canoe event (C1) over a distance of 200 metres.
Jensen and Vincent both dominated their heats and reached the semi-finals, which will take place on Saturday.
The two four-man kayak (K4) teams over a distance of 500 metres, however, had a bit more difficulty. The women took fourth and last place in their semi-final, while the men finished fifth and last in theirs.
Canada also recorded two other aquatic results on Thursday. It was defeated 10-5 by Italy in women’s water polo in a 5-8 positioning match, while Emma Finlin finished 23e of the women’s 10-kilometer open water aquatic marathon.
On the Golf National course, Alena Sharp handed in a 76 (+4) and her compatriot Brooke Henderson played 73 in the second round of the women’s Olympic tournament. The two Canadians are tied at 29e position.