Canada assured of first boxing medal in 28 years

Canada secured its first Olympic boxing medal in 28 years on Thursday after Nova Scotia’s Wyatt Sanford advanced to the semifinals in the men’s 63.5 kilogram boxing tournament.

Sanford defeated Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev in the quarterfinals at the Paris Nord Arena. The semifinals will be played on Sunday.

In boxing, two bronze medals are awarded to the losers of the semi-finals, who therefore do not have to face each other in a “small final” to secure a place on the podium.

The Canadian, the favourite in his category, got his journey off to a flying start by easily beating the Bulgarian Radoslav Rosenov in the round of 16 on Monday.

Sanford won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last year.

While it is assured of adding to its seven medal haul (2-2-3) as of Thursday noon, Canada has also placed itself in good position to obtain a few more records at the end of the day.

At the pool, Quebecer Marie-Sophie Harvey, Albertan Emma O’Croinin and Ontarians Ella Jansen and Julie Brousseau obtained their passes for the 4×200 m freestyle relay final, scheduled for the evening, after finishing sixth in the morning.

Alberta’s Finlay Knox, the reigning world champion in the 200m individual medley, qualified for the semi-finals of the event with a 13e place during the preliminary waves.

Ontario’s Kylie Masse advanced to the semifinals of the 200-metre backstroke after posting the second-fastest time in the preliminary heats. The 28-year-old won silver in the event three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics.

Toronto’s Josh Liendo continued his run in the men’s 50m freestyle, after taking 15the position.

Canada will also be battling for the bronze medal in the women’s team foil, after losing 45-31 to the United States in the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament.

The Canadians’ strong start was not enough to silence the Americans, who trailed 5-1 and 6-2 respectively after the first and second relays.

The women’s rowing team also set the stage for an Olympic podium by qualifying for the final of the eight event at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, which will take place on Saturday evening, after taking second place in the repechage.

The representatives of the Unifolié, reigning Olympic champions in this discipline, completed the event in 6:04.81, less than a second behind the Americans.

The team is comprised of four members present in Tokyo: Coxswain Kristen Kit of St. Catharines, Ont., Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski of Calgary, Sydney Payne of Toronto and Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, B.C.

Earlier Thursday morning, British Columbian Evan Dunfee had a strong finish in the men’s 20-kilometre walk, finishing fifth.

The Richmond native finished the race in 1:19:16, 21 seconds behind gold medalist Brian Daniel Pintado of Ecuador.

On the tatamis of the Champ-de-Mars Arena, vice-world champion Shady Elnahas was surprised by the Swiss Daniel Eich in his first fight.

Elnahas, seeded fifth in the 100 kilograms category and the third-ranked judoka in the world, was thrown to the ground by waza-ari after 34 seconds of extra time, giving Eich a 1-0 victory.

Canada also suffered setbacks in a few team competitions.

They first lost 19-15 to Germany in women’s 3×3 basketball, bringing their record to 2-1 in the tournament.

The Canadians were then beaten 70-65 by Australia in the women’s Olympic basketball tournament. The Maple Leaf players have a record of 0-2.

Finally, Ontario’s Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec lost 21-10 and 21-16 to Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar in the preliminary round of beach volleyball.

In golf, Canadians Corey Conners and Nick Taylor were able to finish their rounds before the storms. Conners (68) and Taylor (70) temporarily occupy the 15e and 30e ranks.

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