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After going 112 years without an Olympic hammer throw medal, Canada suddenly rules the sport. Camryn Rogers won the women’s event Tuesday in Paris, two days after Ethan Katzberg became the country’s first-ever Olympic hammer throw champion with his dominant victory in the men’s event.
Rogers tossed her four-kilogram implement 76.97 metres with her fifth of six attempts to knock off American Annette Echikunwoke (75.48) for the gold. The 25-year-old Canadian is now the Olympic and world champ after she and Katzberg captured Canada’s first hammer throw world titles last summer.
The hammer double brings Canada to six gold medals in Paris — one away from tying the national record for a non-boycotted Summer Games.
Unfortunately, one of Canada’s top medal contenders got flattened as the men’s basketball team fell 82-73 to France in the quarterfinals.
WATCH | CBC’s Meg Roberts tells you what to watch on Day 12:
Camryn Rogers is the first Canadian woman to win Olympic hammer throw title for Canada’s 6th gold medal of Paris 2024. Alysha Newman sets her sights on a podium finish, and Andre De Grasse looks to make the 200m men’s final on Day 12.
Feeding off the partisan Parisian crowd, the host team raced out to a big lead that grew to 19 points as 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanya and company stifled the smaller Canadians. The NBA rookie of the year grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and snagged three steals with his octopus-like arms, while Euro-leaguers Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier combined for 42 points.
Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-best 27 points, but he didn’t get enough help — especially from fellow NBA star Jamal Murray. After plodding through the group stage on a minutes restriction, Murray managed just seven points (off the bench again) on an atrocious 3-for-13 shooting and never got to the free-throw line. Feisty but overmatched forward Dillon Brooks had only two points and shot 1-for-9. RJ Barrett, a bright spot throughout the tournament, scored 16. France “punched us in the mouth,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
This is a crushing upset for the Canadians, who were favoured by eight points and were considered a real threat to win the country’s first Olympic basketball medal since 1936. Instead, Canada’s first men’s basketball appearance in a quarter century ended in the same round where Steve Nash’s squad bowed out in 2000. Here’s a post-mortem on the Canadian team.
WATCH | France knocks Canada out of men’s basketball quarters:
France defeats Canada 82-73 and advances to the men’s basketball semifinals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
A couple more tough Canadian results to share: diver Caeli McKay finished one spot off the Olympic podium for the third time in her career, while young 400m runner Christopher Morales Williams did not qualify for his final after finishing last in his semifinal heat coming off a gruelling collegiate season.
On the bright side, men’s 200m sprinters Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney joined Andre De Grasse in Wednesday’s semifinals while young women’s 400m hurdler Savannah Sutherland reached Thursday’s final. Canoe doubles gold-medal contenders Katie Vincent and Sloan Mackenzie advanced to their semifinals along with several other Canadian paddlers.
Looking ahead, let’s start our Day 12 viewing guide on the track, where a bunch of Canadian stars are in action. Plus, Canada tries to crack the podium in artistic swimming, the country’s top beach volleyball duo shoots for the medal rounds and the women’s golf tournament tees off.
WATCH l Camryn Rogers throws for 76.97m to win hammer throw gold:
Camryn Rogers of Richmond, B.C., threw for 76.97 metres on her fifth attempt to win the Olympic gold medal in women’s hammer throw, following on the heels of teammate Ethan Katzberg’s gold medal victory in the men’s hammer throw competition.
Andre De Grasse, Marco Arop and Moh Ahmed are all on the track Wednesday
De Grasse continues his attempt at a second straight Olympic men’s 200m title with the semifinals, which begin at 2:02 p.m. ET. He’s in the first heat with American contender Kenny Bednarek. Brown is in heat 2 with American world champion Noah Lyles and worlds bronze medallist Letsile Tebogo of Tebogo. Rodney is in heat 3 with Olympic and worlds silver medallist Erriyon Knighton of the U.S. The top two in each heat advance to Thursday’s final, along with the next two fastest overall.
De Grasse will be hard-pressed to repeat against the likes of Lyles — heavily favoured for gold coming off his photo-finish victory in the 100m final — Bednarek, Knighton and Tebogo. The Canadian star also encountered an off-the-track obstacle when his American coach, Rana Reider, had his accreditation revoked by the Canadian Olympic Committee. The COC said “new information” came to light about Reider, who was on probation with the U.S. Center for SafeSport until May of this year.
WATCH | De Grasse qualifies for 200m semifinals:
Andre De Grasse of Markham, Ont., finished second in his men’s 200-metre first-round heat, with a time of 20.30 seconds, to advance directly into the semifinals at Paris 2024.
Arop’s quest to add Olympic gold after winning the men’s 800m world title last year begins with the opening-round heats at 5:55 a.m. ET. He should advance easily, but the competition for gold will be fierce.
After his gutsy fourth-place finish in the thrilling men’s 10,000m final last week, Ahmed returns for the 5,000m heats at 5:10 a.m. ET. He took silver in this event in 2021, and reigning champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda pulled out Tuesday after exhausting himself to win the 10,000m gold. Canada’s Ben Flanagan (the national road 5K and 10K record holder) and Thomas Fafard will also run in the heats.
Three of Wednesday’s track and field finals will include Canadians, though none of them are considered strong medal contenders. Race walker Evan Dunfee, who placed fifth in the men’s 20-kilometre event last week, teams up with Olivia Lundman for the mixed relay at 1:30 a.m. ET. Alysha Newman is in the women’s pole vault final at 12:15 p.m. ET, and Jean-Simon Desgagnes will run (and jump) in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase final at 3:43 p.m. ET.
There was a huge upset in Tuesday’s men’s 1,500m final, where rivals Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Josh Kerr of Britain expected to battle for the gold. Instead, American Cole Hocker outkicked them both, nipping the world champion Kerr in Olympic-record time. Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champ, finished a stunning fourth.
In the women’s 200m final, American Gabby Thomas captured her first Olympic gold while Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred took silver for her tiny country’s second-ever Olympic medal — following her gold in the 100m last weekend.
Other Canadians to watch on Wednesday
Beach volleyball: Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson in the women’s quarterfinals
Canada’s top duo went 1-2 in group play and had to win a “lucky loser” playoff to reach the knockout stage. But they promptly upset Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth on Monday to reach the final eight.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who are seventh in the latest world rankings, face 16th-ranked Spaniards Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno at 11 a.m. ET. The winner goes to the semifinals and is guaranteed to play for a medal.
Artistic swimming: Canada in the final round of the team event
Canada placed seventh in the opening technical routine on Monday and improved to fifth in Tuesday’s free routine. That puts the team in sixth place overall heading into the closing acrobatic routine on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
The Canadian team includes Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau, who will compete in the duet event later this week. The pair won gold in the duet free event at the World Cup Super Final last month. Simoneau won an individual gold and silver at this year’s world championships in Doha, where she became Canada’s first world title winner since 1991 in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming. But there are no solo events in the Olympics.
Golf: Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp in the first round of the women’s event
Henderson, ranked 17th in the world and 14th among Olympic qualifiers, is Canada’s best chance for a medal. The 26-year-old owns two major championships and 13 LPGA Tour titles — the most wins ever by a Canadian on a major golf tour. She finished just two strokes off the podium at the 2016 Olympics in Rio before tying for 29th at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Alena Sharp, Canada’s other entry, is also making her third straight Olympic appearance. She finished 30th in Rio and was 49th in Tokyo. Sharp is again one of the lowest-ranked players in the field of 60, but she’s coming off a pair of top-20 finishes on the LPGA Tour, including a tie for 14th at the Canadian Women’s Open.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda is favoured to repeat as Olympic champion and give the United States a sweep of the gold medals after Scottie Scheffler’s comeback victory in the men’s event. Korda rattled off an incredible six wins in seven starts early in the year, including the Chevron Championship major. But she hasn’t played well since the end of May, missing three straight cuts (including two majors) and finishing well out of contention at last month’s Evian Championship in France, the latest major.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is trying for her third straight medal after taking silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. But she also struggled over the past couple months before tying for eighth at the Canadian Open.
Read more about Henderson and Sharp in this story by CBC Sports’ Myles Dichter.
Some other things to know
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif advanced to her gold-medal bout. Khelif, subjected to worldwide scrutiny and speculation about her gender since an Italian opponent quit their first-round match, defeated a Thai opponent 5-0 in the women’s 66kg semifinals. She’ll fight for gold against a Chinese foe on Friday.
Brazil stunned Women’s World Cup champion Spain in the soccer semifinals. The world’s ninth-ranked team upset No. 1 Spain 4-2 to give Brazilian great Marta the chance to end her international career with her first Olympic gold medal. Brazil’s opponent in Saturday’s final is the United States, which beat Germany 1-0 in extra time on a goal by Sophia Smith.
How to watch the Olympics
Live events are televised on the CBC TV network, TSN and Sportsnet. Or choose exactly what you want to watch by live streaming on CBC Gem or CBC Sports’ Paris 2024 website and app.
Highlights of CBC Sports’ digital coverage include Paris Tonight with host Ariel Helwani, live every night at 11 p.m. ET from Canada Olympic House in Paris; Rise and Stream with host Meg Roberts, identifying the key events to watch each day; Hot Takes with host Dale Manucdoc, highlighting must-see moments; and Paris Pulse with Meg and Dale, discussing trending stories from the Games.
You can also test your Olympic knowledge and win prizes on The Game, a nightly trivia contest with host Craig McMorris. Read more about CBC’s multi-platform Olympics coverage here.