Preface:
Tonight was my oldest friend’s bachelorette! (Congrats, Jesslin!) This past Saturday, Bridesmaid Clara asked if I was still “coming on Tuesday.” “FOR SURE I will be there! But there won’t be LEGO with the recap, since we will probably stay in Toronto that night.”
“What? You can’t!”
Then, last night, it hit Yvonne, “Wait, how are we going to do the LEGO?!”
Well, don’t I have the most amazing wife – I received a text while at work that she was packed and on her way to Toronto…WITH the LEGO!
Good thing, since today was an historic day! Canadian Divers repeated history in women’s 10m synchro diving, and the Canadian Women made history by defeating Germany 2-1 in their final preliminary match (their first win in the 13 meetings with Germany).
WOMEN’S SYNCHRONIZED 10m PLATFORM DIVING:
It is an event where you already are accustomed to holding your breath every time an athlete leaps past the point of no return, but today’s event had you even further on edge. Heading into the 4th dive (teams get 5 dives), Canada was in 4th place. Dive #4 for most teams had you wondering what was happening at the pool! Was it the green water messing with competitors’ minds? (seriously, that pool was VERY green, like a pool when you come back from a few weeks vacation and with no explanation given by the pool boys). Many divers missed their mark on #4, including Canada who dropped to fifth place behind GBR. As always, unless you’re China, the last dive is do or die. After the third place North Koreans faltered, Canadians Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion pulled out all the stops and nailed their last dive to jump up to third place! All eyes were on GBR as they attempted to bump Canada from the podium. They had a misdive, dropped to 5th place and the whole Canadian diving team with their coaches erupted as the 5th Canadian Olympic medal had been locked in! China took the gold and dark horse Malaysia took the Silver.
WOMEN’S SOCCER:
Canada was looking to complete their sweep of the group stage with a win over Germany. Canada had already qualified for the next round with their two previous wins, but they had something to prove, even with Sinclair resting on the sideline. Germany struck first on a penalty shot in the 13th minute – it was a questionable call and quite frankly, very delayed! Canada’s Tancredi answered back at the 26th minute with a nifty placement through defenders into the far post. In the second half, Tancredi would prove that she still has what it takes, with her experience shining through. At the 60 minute mark, Canada’s Rebecca Quinn sent a free kick deep into the penalty area and found Tancredi’s head to blast it past the keeper. Labbe held up her end of the bargain as she was pelted with German shots in the last couple minutes. Canada will play France in the Quarterfinals on Friday at 6pm EST.
In an interesting development, USA tied Colombia 2-2 and South Africa tied Brazil 0-0.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Canadians Saxton and Schalk upset Brazil’s number two team! It was a tight game that went to 3 sets (17-21, 21-18, 16-14) and there was rarely more than a 2 point lead by either team. Canada’s two women’s teams split the decision with one team Broder and Valjas losing 2-0 to Germany, and Team 2 Bansley and Pavan defeating Switzerland 2-0. All teams have another game until the elimination rounds start.
INDOOR VOLLEYBALL
“Canadians put up a shield!” – that was my favourite commentator quote of the opening set. Fresh off a USA upset, Canada jumped out to an early lead as they took on the host nation, Brazil. Canada took the first set, but then dropped the next 3 to Brazil to lose 3-1. Italy beat the US 3-1.
JUDO – Canada’s bronze medallist from 2012, Antoine Valois-Fortier was in action today in the men’s 81kg category. Antoine lost the quarter final match to “Russian Guy” which required him to compete in a repechage to move on. Unfortunately, the Japanese judoka, Nagase, eliminated Antoine from the medal race and then went on to win the bronze medal B final. “Russian Guy” took the gold medal.
GYMNASTICS
It was the women’s team final and I wish I saw more of this! It sounded exciting with some unexpected bobbles combined with sticking insane landings. USA took the team gold, Russia overcame deafening boos to edge China by 0.685 points.
ROWING:
Women’s Pairs – Canada will race in the C Final after finishing fourth in the repechage.
Women’s Single Sculls – Carling Zeeman of Canada will move onto the Semifinals.
RUGBY – MEN’S SEVENS:
The men’s tourney was underway today! South Africa blew out Spain 24-0 the France 26-0, and in even bigger news, Japan upset New Zealand 14-12! In the final play, NZ managed to move the ball up the field but fell short by only several feet. NZ redeemed themselves, defeating Kenya 28-5.
SWIMMING
Women’s 200m Freestyle – USA’s Ledecky (remember THAT name, don’t call her the female Phelps) continued her winning ways taking the gold. Sweden’s Sjostrom also added to her medal collection with a silver, and Australia’s McKeon took bronze
Men’s 200m Butterfly – In the much anticipated race that Phelps has never won, Chad le Clos did not even medal, leaving the door open for Phelps to claim his prize and retire without regret. Japan’s Sakai took silver, and the Hungary swimming team continued domination with a bronze.
Women’s 200 IM – Hungary’s Hosszu added to her Rio medal collection as well set an Olympic Record. GBR took Silver and USA took Bronze.
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – Gold – USA (by 2.5s), Silver – GBR; Bronze – Japan.
WHAT ELSE?:
– Men’s Canoe Single (C1) Slalom at Whitewater Stadium – Gold to France, Silver: Slovakia and Bronze: Japan
– Men’s Epee – South Korea took Gold over Hungary while France took Bronze (Canada finished 27th)
– Men’s Field Hockey – Canada lost to the Netherlands 7-0.
– Equestrian – Canada’s Rebecca Howard finished Top 10 in the Individual Eventing final, which is made up of Dressage (horse dancing), cross country, and jumping.
– Tennis – Bouchard and Dabrowski were knocked out of women’s doubles (7-6, 2-6, 4-6).
– Women’s Weightlifting (63kg) – China’s Deng Wei set a World record with 147kg (total 262kg) to take the Gold medal.
Super-more-than-Lego Credit: Yvonne