This time, the colour is gold.
After back-to-back Olympic bronze medals, years of heartbreak and near-misses, the Canadian women’s soccer team came into the Tokyo Games with a singular goal: change the colour of the medal. On a humid Friday in Japan, they did just that.
Canada defeated Sweden, 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw, to claim the country’s first-ever gold medal in women’s soccer.
From coast to coast and around the globe, here’s how Canadians celebrated history being made.
A golden finish
Phonzy is PROUD of @CanadaSoccerEN's Olympic Gold medal!@AlphonsoDavies pic.twitter.com/uhrHq9Gqgp
— FC Bayern US(@FCBayernUS) August 6, 2021
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1423657289614041091
They did it. THEY FREAKIN’ DID IT!!!Watching @sincy12 realize what they’ve accomplished has me an emotional wreck. Unbelievable. #TeamCanada
— Danielle Michaud (@SNMichaud) August 6, 2021
CANADA IS A SOCCER COUNTRY BAYBAYYYY #Tokyo2020
— Rachel Halliwell (@rachelhaliwell) August 6, 2021
What a moment for Canadian Soccer
The #CANWNT have made the national soccer program relevant & something to be proud of in our country for 2 decades. They deserve every second of this
— Randip Janda (@RandipJanda) August 6, 2021
Canadian soccer fans react at Empower Futbol in Burlington, Ontario to Canada’s gold medal Olympic victory in women’s soccer in Japan pic.twitter.com/Najrt4gj5H
— Simon Dingley@CBC (@SimonDingleyTV) August 6, 2021
A CANADIAN HERITAGE MOMENTpic.twitter.com/fh7EE6Hsf4
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) August 6, 2021
Christine Sinclair, Olympic champion
In a storied career near unrivalled across sports, Olympic gold was among the only honours that had eluded Christine Sinclair.
Sinclair, whose 187 international goals are the most ever for a man or woman, was one of only two members of the Canadian club to have played in 2012 at Old Trafford — the infamous match in which a rarely called delay of game penalty kicked off a sequence of events that led to Canada losing against the United States and missing out on a gold-medal opportunity.
Nine years later, Canada not only eliminated the United States for a shot at the gold medal, but stands atop the soccer world.
Last Name: Ever
First Name: GreatestChristine Sinclair is the pic.twitter.com/2MeDAXKW6Z
— Alykhan Khamisa Ravjiani (@AlykhanKR) August 6, 2021
PUT HER ON OUR MONEY.
https://t.co/DgtAyjvXNB— Adam van Koeverden (@vankayak) August 6, 2021
Quinn blazes a trail
Beyond being a crowning moment for Sinclair’s career, gold at these Games marked a first, too.
Quinn, a midfielder on the team, became the first openly transgender, non-binary person in history to win an Olympic gold medal.
Making history at these Games isn’t new for Quinn. By competing at all, they also became the first openly transgender athlete to do so at a Summer Olympics.
“I feel sad knowing there were Olympians before me unable to live their truth because of the world,” Quinn said in July. “I feel optimistic for change. Change in legislature. Changes in rules, structures, and mindsets.”
This is a huge moment for trans and non binary folks. As well as the queer community as a whole.
Congratulations @TheQuinny5. You’re changing the world
— Brock McGillis (@brock_mcgillis) August 6, 2021
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