More Bling For Canada!
BASKETBALL – Women’s Semis:
The women’s tourney continued without Canada in the final four. Spain defeated Serbia 68-54 and the Americans did not romp France, but still won 86-67.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL – Men’s Medal Round
In the Gold medal match, it was World Number 1 Brazil (Oscar Schmidt and Cerutti) vs the Italian team of Nicolai and Lupo. The World #1 took the Olympic Gold Medal in straight sets, with the final point being an awkward call by the ref. Italy wasn’t happy, but let’s be real, they weren’t going to beat Brazil!
CANOE/KAYAK
In the Men’s Kayak Double (K2) 200m final, it was a fight to the finish. The Spanish Duo of Craviotto and Toro edged out GBR’s Heath and Schofield, who in turn beat the Lithuanian team of Lankas and Ramanauskas by a hair.
Places 1 and 5 all finished within 0.5s of each other! Check out the times here:
http://olympics.cbc.ca/canoe-kayak/event/flatwater-kayak-double-200m-men/phase=cfm122100/index.html?v=20160818134852&intcmp=[#]-schline-result
Canada’s Cochrane and Fournel finished in 8th, 1.3s behind the Spanish paddlers.
CYCLING
Bring on the BMX!
Coquitlam, B.C.’s Tory Nyhaug won his heat and will continue into the semis tomorrow.
DIVING – Women’s 10m Platform
China continues to rule the sport of diving. China took Gold and Silver as 15 year old Qian Ren one-upped her diving teammate Yajie Si. Not too far behind was Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito, winning herself a SECOND BRONZE MEDAL for the games. Benfeito’s synchronized diving teammate, Roise Filion finished a close 6th place but finished with an amazing rip entry to cap off what will likely be her last Olympics.
Men’s 10m diving is Friday.
GOLF
Canadian Brooke Henderson made up huge ground today as she is now tied for 3rd place and only 2 behind the leader. Still Round 3 and 4 to go! Teammate Alena Sharp is tied for 32nd.
HANDBALL – Women’s Semis
Two close semi matches: France over Netherlands 24-23, and Russia over Norway 38-37.
MEN’S FIELD HOCKEY
Argentina defeated Belgium 4-2 for the gold medal as Germany beat the Netherlands for the Bronze.
WRESTLING
In Women’s 75kg Freestyle Wrestling, Canadian Erica Wiebe became the third Canadian woman in history to win OLYMPIC GOLD in a wrestling event. This was over Kazakhstan’s Guzel Manyurova, a world champion.
The best part was when Erica lifted her coach on her shoulders in celebration of her Gold and did a victory lap around the mat.
TRACK AND FIELD
Women’s 4x100m Qualifying
In their heat, USA had a stumble, fall and an attempt in desperation to whip the baton at her teammate’s back. It was later determined that the Brazilian team interfered and USA was awarded a solo time trial race: run the relay again, for a time, and if they beat the last place qualified (China), they have a spot in the final. And, so, they did it and beat the last time by 1 whole second! Canada qualified for the final, too.
Men’s Decathlon
These ultimate athletes finished up the decathlon today with the Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin and the 1500m race.
USA’s Ashton Eaton carried the lead for nearly the whole competition and became the third man in history to win back to back Olympic decathlon gold medals.
Bronze medal winner, Canada’s Damian Warner entered the day in 2nd place, he didn’t clear a very high pole vault, allowing France’s Mayer to move ahead. In the Javelin, Warner’s final throw was huge with a Season’s Best 63.19m. That would give him a stronghold on Third place as the group entered the final event, the grueling 1500m.
Mayer would have only been able to catch the Gold had he beaten Eaton by at least 40 meters in this final race. Alas, the leaders simply had to keep a good pace to keep their podium spots. Eaton would earn his 2nd Gold medal, with Mayer taking Silver, and Warner the BRONZE.
Women’s 400m Hurdles
USA’s Dalilah Muhammad led the race from the start. Teammate Ashley Spencer was close by, but Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen broke through in the final stretch to snatch the Silver medal. Of the field of eight, 5 Personal/Seasonal/National Best records were set.
Men’s 200m Final
The moment many had been waiting all day for. Another Bolt – De Grasse match up. Bolt, probably a little annoyed at De Grasse’s semifinal run, showed the whole field who is boss. He was the only one in the field to break 20s and also set a season’s best with 19.78. Bolt and De Grasse each crossed the line quite easily, but it was the Bronze medal that went down to a photo finish. The Dutch runner Martina looked to have the bronze in his hands, but it would be France’s Lemaitre who would lean his chest forward first, and actually GBR’s Gemili slipped into 4th place ahead of Martina!
Not too shabby for his first Olympics, De Grasse has two medals so far to haul home with him. A Gold in the relay would complete his Rio collection 🙂
Usain, on the other hand, has so far pulled off a triple double, capturing a third consecutive gold medal in his second event. He’ll go for the Triple Triple with the 4x100m relay, slated for Friday.
Props and Editing By: Yvo