Tokyo 2020 Canadian roundup: Swimmers deliver, Thibeault advances

Canada's Tammara Thibeault, in red, and Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Ryabets exchange punches during the women's middleweight 75-kg boxing match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Frank Franklin II/AP, Pool)

Penny Oleksiak headlined Wednesday’s Olympic action with her bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle, which made her Canada's most decorated Summer Olympian.

Canadian gymnast Ellie Black, on the other hand, had to withdraw from the women’s all-around competition with an ankle injury.

Here is what else Canadians were up to in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Haley Daniels reaps the crops of change

After actively pressuring the International Canoe Federation for gender equity and the inclusion of women’s canoe slalom in the Olympics, Haley Daniels got to compete in the first-ever Olympic event. Men’s canoe slalom has been a part of the Olympics for 85 years.

Daniels didn’t qualify for the final, but her contribution to the sport had already been cemented.

Rowing results

The Canadian women’s double of Jessica Sevick and Gabrielle Smith finished their A Final in sixth place overall on Wednesday.

Three more Canadian crews made it to their A finals.

The men’s pair of Kai Langerfeld and Conlin McCabe secured their spot after a thrilling comeback that saw them claim third place in their semifinal.

Another women’s pair, Hillary Janssens and Caileigh Filmer, finished their A/B semifinal in third place. Later on Wednesday, the women’s eight also secured a spot in the final via repechage.

Thibeault advances

Middleweight boxer Tammara Thibeault beat Nadezhda Ryabets of Kazakhstan and advanced to the quarterfinals at Tokyo. The 24-year-old Quebec native is set to face Dutch boxer Nouchka Fontjin on Saturday.

Just keep swimming

Canada continued its strong outing in swimming as a handful of preliminary rounds got underway on Wednesday evening.

Oleksiak and Kayla Sanchez qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 100-metre freestyle, with Sanchez recording a personal-best time of 53.12.

Markus Thormeyer claimed a spot in the men’s 200-metre backstroke semifinals and Kelsey Wog qualified for the women’s 200-metre breaststroke semifinals.

The Canadian women’s 4x200 freestyle relay secured its place in the Olympic final. Katerine Savard, Rebecca Smith, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Sydney Pickrem posted 7:51.52 in Heat 2 and qualified in fourth place.

Swimming in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics runs until Saturday, July 31.

Fraser-Beaulieu kept off podium

Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu’s Olympic debut ended with an 18th-place finish in the equestrian individual dressage Grand Prix freestyle event on Wednesday. She and her horse, All In, scored 76.404 in the event.

Houle races to 13th

Hugo Houle finished in first place during his wave in the men’s individual time trial road cycling event, but by the time all racers had finished their lap, Houle had been bumped out to 13th overall. His time of 57:56.46, however, led the event for a large chunk of time before the Quebec native was finally pushed off the hot seat.

Yang nearly pulls it off

Bryan Yang was fearless in his badminton match against No. 2 seed Tien-Chen Chou, coming really close to pulling off an upset for the ages.

The 19-year-old battled hard, but ended up with a 18-21, 21-16, 20-22 loss on Wednesday.

Men’s sevens fail to medal

The Canadian men’s rugby sevens team finished the Olympic tournament in eighth place, with a 26-7 loss to Australia. The women’s tournament starts on Thursday, with Canada facing Brazil in the opener.

Women’s water polo team routs South Africa

Canada earned its first Tokyo win in women’s water polo with a whopping 21-1 rout of South Africa. The Canadians improved to 1-2 in the group stage and will face the Netherlands on Sunday in Group A action.

Men’s volleyball gets on the board

Another Canadian team got its first win in Tokyo on Wednesday, as the men’s volleyball squad beat Iran in straight sets in the preliminary round. Canada is now 1-2 in Group A and is still in the mix for a quarterfinal spot.

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