Katie Vincent made a compelling case for another generation of Canadian canoeists to follow in her footsteps.
Vincent, from Mississauga, Ont., teamed with Sloan MacKenzie of Windsor Junction, N.S., to take the bronze medal in the women鈥檚 sprint canoe double 500-metre final on Friday. It鈥檚 Vincent鈥檚 second Olympic bronze in the event after finishing third three years ago in Tokyo.
She says her sport gets limited exposure outside the Olympics, but she鈥檚 been making it count when the spotlight is on sprint canoe.
鈥淔or our sport, the Olympics is the only time we鈥檙e on TV. So to know that there are kids at home who might be seeing the sport for the first time and may say to their parents, 鈥楬ey, where鈥檚 the nearest canoeing club?鈥� 鈥� it鈥檚 pretty special to be able to introduce people to our sport,鈥� Vincent said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 part of my purpose to show the world that canoeing is Canadian, and maybe some of the media (coverage) we get from this can inspire kids to look for the nearest canoeing club. They鈥檙e all over Canada, and they鈥檙e always looking for people to join.
The sprint canoe medal gave Canada 22 overall (six gold, five silver, 11 bronze), just two back of its record of 24 for a non-boycotted Games set in Tokyo.
Canada was guaranteed at least one more medal Friday when the Toronto duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson took on Brazilian top seeds Ana Ramos and Duda Lisboa in the women鈥檚 beach volleyball final.
On the mat, wrestler Hannah Taylor of Summerside, P.E.I., was set to face American Helen Maroulis in a women鈥檚 57-kilogram bronze-medal match, while shot-putter Sarah Mitton, of Brooklyn, N.S., was set to lead Canada鈥檚 track and field medal hopefuls.
Also Friday, Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., was presented a silver medal in high jump from the London 2012 Olympics in a ceremony featuring athletes receiving reallocated medals from previous Games.
In the 500m sprint canoe, the Canadians lost the silver medal to the Ukrainians in a photo finish and posted a time of one minute 54.36 seconds. Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok had a late burst to take silver with 1:54.30.
China鈥檚 Shixiao Xu and Mengya Sun won gold with a time of 1:52.81. The Chinese beat the Olympic record they set in the semifinals after Vincent and MacKenzie set the Olympic mark in the heats.
鈥淥h, man. That Chinese crew, they鈥檝e got it all figured out,鈥� Vincent said. 鈥淭hey have been pretty perfect for the last three years, haven鈥檛 had a slip. So I鈥檓 honestly just so proud to see our sport at that level.鈥�
In women鈥檚 golf, Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., had an impressive third round to give herself an outside shot of a medal. Henderson shot 5-under Friday to give her a combined score of 2-under heading into Saturday鈥檚 final round.
New Zealand鈥檚 Lydia Ko and Switzerland鈥檚 Morgane Metraux led at 9 under, two strokes ahead of Rose Zhang of the United States and Japan鈥檚 Miyuu Yamashita.
鈥淚 mean, I鈥檓 still pretty far back, but it was nice to get the jump that I did today and move up as much as I did,鈥� said Henderson, who moved 16 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 13th. 鈥淚 feel like a lot can happen and (there could be) a lot of movement, especially on Sunday afternoon. So I feel like, right to the end, I鈥檒l have a shot at it.鈥�
In diving, Rylan Wiens of Pike Lake, Sask., was third in preliminaries and qualified for Saturday鈥檚 semifinal in the men鈥檚 10-metre platform. Nathan Zsombor-Murray, of Pointe-Claire, Que., secured 10th place and also advanced.
The two Canadians teamed up to win the bronze medal in the synchro event earlier at the Games.
Drouin was among 10 past Olympians at the Trocadero who received new or upgraded medals in a ceremony. He originally finished third in London but was upgraded after Russia鈥檚 Ivan Ukhov was stripped of the gold for a doping violation.
Drouin said he didn鈥檛 have any negative feelings toward Ukhov, who he said was part of a Russian doping scandal that was 鈥渕uch more widespread than just any one individual athlete.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 harbour any ill will toward him,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think really any individual athlete in this scenario can really be, or should really be, held accountable in the way that maybe other doping scandals have been.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.
The Canadian Press
