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While the experience of watching the Paris 2024 Olympics and the timing are not as challenging for Canadian viewers as they were for Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022, a good portion of the action during these Games occurs when many Canadians are fast asleep.
Whether you were sleeping well, busy at work, had family activities to take part in, or just didn’t have a chance to tune in, we’ve got you covered during these Olympic Games from start to finish, with Team Canada. Currently with 24 medalsincluding seven gold ones.
Here’s what you may have missed on Day 14, including an impressive gold medal relay race on the track, a record-breaking silver in beach volleyball and a bronze medal in canoeing.
Men’s 4x100m relay team surprises the rest and miraculously wins gold
For the second time in the country’s history, the Canadian men’s relay team is the fastest in the world.
In a stunning upset, the Canadian quartet of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse rallied to claim gold in electrifying fashion in the men’s 4x100m relay final on Friday, running a blistering season-best 37.50 seconds despite the wet, soggy conditions inside the Stade de France.
None of Canada’s four runners reached the final in the men’s 100- or 200-meter individual events.
What a race from Canada!
Surprise gold medal in the 4x100m relay. Andre De Grasse ran despite a nagging hamstring injury. image.twitter.com/zLG3Izcxfc
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) August 9, 2024
De Grasse, who put together an incredible closing leg despite a nagging hamstring injury, is now tied with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada’s most decorated Olympian with seven medals.
It is Canada’s second gold in the event’s history, after the 1996 team, which included Donovan Bailey, won it 28 years ago in Atlanta. The win brings Canada’s total medals in Paris to 23, including seven golds.
While many were impressed with Canada’s surprising run to gold, it seems not everyone was thrilled as a protest was launched against the Canadian men’s relay team after the race.
RIP
A protest was launched against Canada in the men’s 4x100m; we are working to find out who protested.
I just found out that it has been rejected.
Canada remains Olympic champion.
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 9, 2024
I am told that since the protest was rejected, the details and decision will not be made public.
So we won’t know who launched the protest against Canada and why.
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 9, 2024
Moments before the Canadians competed for gold, the The women’s 4×100 team finished sixth in their final.with Sade McCreath, Jacqueline Madogo, Marie-Eloise Leclair and Audrey Leduc running a time of 42.69 seconds.
Canada equals all-time Olympic medal haul with silver in women’s beach volleyball
In a match where tension boiled over towards the end of the tie break, Canada fell to the top-ranked Brazilian duo, Ana Patrícia Ramos and Duda Lisboa, in the Women’s beach volleyball final on Friday to win a historic silver medal.
The Canadian team of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson staved off three set points from Brazil (and had a couple of their own) before losing the first set 26-24. The Canadian pair rallied to take the second set in dominant fashion, 21-12, but fell short in the third and final set as the Brazilians took the gold.
The silver secures Canada’s best-ever finish and its first medal in women’s beach volleyball. The medal also means Canada has officially equaled its highest medal total at a non-boycotted Olympics with 24, with one day remaining before the 2024 Games close.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes secured a medal after beating Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli in a three-set thriller on Thursday to advance to the gold medal game.
What makes Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes’ silver medal triumph even more special is the tough road they took to get there. After an up-and-down run in the group stage, the Canadians had to take the “lucky loser” route to reach the knockout stage, booking their ticket to the quarterfinals with a big upset win over the No. 2-ranked American duo of Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss. Canada then eliminated Spain and Switzerland in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to reach the final.
Canada has only won one other medal in Olympic beach volleyball: Mark Heese and John Child took bronze in the men’s beach event at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, with different partners, each lost in the quarterfinals in Tokyo before the former York University indoor teammates joined forces to form a new team, a decision that ended up yielding incredibly good results.
Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie win bronze in women’s canoe double
Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie started Day 14 on the right foot, raising Canada’s medal tally in Paris to 22 with a Third place in the women’s 500-meter double canoe sprint event end.
Vincent and MacKenzie finished the final in one minute and 54.36 seconds, behind China’s Mengya Sun and Shixiao Xu, who won gold. The Canadian pair got off to a good start before falling behind China and eventually being caught by Ukraine, who made a last-ditch effort to claim the silver medal in a very tight finish.
For Vincent, this is his second Olympic medal, having taken bronze in this same event three years ago in Tokyo. Vincent won that medal with his former teammate Laurence Vincent-Lapointe.
More news from Team Canada on Day 14
