Alysha Newman gave Canada its second track and field medal in as many days at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Newman cleared 4.85 metres in her second attempt to win the bronze medal in the pole vault, breaking her own national record in the process.
Newman became the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal in the pole vault. At the 2021 Tokyo Games, the 30-year-old Ontarian missed all three of her jumps at 4.25 metres and did not qualify for the final.
Canada’s last pole vault medal was at the Stockholm Games in 1912. William Halpenny won bronze with a jump of 3.80 metres.
The Maple Leaf also placed itself in position to add a few medals to its haul.
Lauriane Genest and Kelsey Mitchell took the long way, but they reached the quarter-finals of the women’s keirin at the Vélodrome national de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Genest, a bronze medalist in the discipline at the Tokyo Games, and Mitchell had to go through the repechage to get there, but they won their heat of racing to reach the quarterfinals.
In the men’s sprint, Tyler Rorke and Nick Wammes were not so lucky as their journey ended in the repechage. Both registered in the fourth and final wave of the repechage, they were beaten by Frenchman Rayan Helal.
In the women’s team pursuit, Erin Attwell, Sarah Bonhomme, Maggie Coles-Lyster and Sarah van Dam lost to the Germans in the first round. Canada then lost to Australia to finish eighth.
In the men’s team pursuit, Dylan Bibic, Mathias Guillemette, Michael Foley and Carson Mattern beat Belgium to take seventh place.
At the Vaires-sur-Marne nautical stadium, Connor Fitzpatrick made sure he didn’t have to go through the repechage. Fitzpatrick finished second in his elimination heat in the 1000-meter sprint in single-seater canoe (C1), qualifying directly for the semi-finals.
In the women’s 500-metre sprint in single kayak (K1), Michelle Russell and Riley Melanson managed to qualify for the semi-finals, which will take place on Saturday.
The duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson continued their magnificent run at the women’s beach volleyball tournament by reaching the semifinals.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson defeated Spain’s Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva in two sets of 21-18, 21-18.
The Canadians are now assured of providing their country with its best Olympic result in women’s beach volleyball.
It was, however, more difficult for diver Margo Erlam on the 3-meter springboard. She finished the preliminaries on 22e level and she did not get her ticket to the semi-finals.
The Golf National course also gave Brooke Henderson some headaches in the women’s tournament. Henderson shot a 74 (+2) to tie for 30e position. Her compatriot Alena Sharp had more success, shooting a 71 to climb to seventh place.
In the mixed relay marathon event, Canadians Evan Dunfee and Olivia Lundman took 20e place with a time of 3:04:57. They finished 14:26 behind Spaniards Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez, the gold medalists.
In the artistic swimming team competition, the young Canadian team came in sixth in total points.
Elsewhere, in the women’s taekwondo under 49 kilograms round of 16, Josipa Kafadar was defeated 2-0 by Croatia’s Lena Stojkovic. Stojkovic then won her quarter-final match, eliminating Kafadar.
At the Stade de France for the athletics competitions, Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney were eliminated in the semi-finals of the men’s 200 meters.
During the 3000 meter steeplechase final, Quebecer Jean-Simon Desgagnés presented the 13e chrono.
Also, Mariam Abdul-Rashid got the 14e time in the women’s 100-meter hurdles and advanced to the semifinals. Michelle Harrison took 37e rank and she will have to go through the repechage.
In the men’s 5,000 meters, Thomas Fafard advanced to the semifinals thanks to his eighth position in the first heat. Mohammed Ahmed was eliminated, as was Benjamin Flanagan, who showed a better time than Fafard, but finished 17th.e of the second wave. The top eight from each wave advanced to the next round.
In the first round of the men’s 800 meters, Marco Arop presented the 17e time and he qualified for the semi-finals.
Finally, in the women’s 1500m repechage, Lucia Stafford, Kate Current and Simone Plourde were all eliminated.