Olympic viewing guide: How Canada can reach a new high in medals | CBC Sports

Distance runner Moh Ahmed kicked things off with a terrific finishing burst to take silver in the men’s 5,000 metres. The only man who beat him to the line was world-record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda. Ahmed is the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the 5,000.

Then, Andre De Grasse delivered again, rallying his Canadian relay team from well back when he took the baton to a bronze in the men’s 4×100. The 200m champion and 100m bronze medallist completed his second consecutive Olympic podium triple, and now has more Summer Games medals than any Canadian besides Penny Oleksiak.

Then, the grand finale: Canada’s women’s soccer team won a penalty shootout to upset Sweden in the final and capture its first-ever Olympic gold medal.

The thrilling soccer victory was truly a team effort, but five heroes in particular stand out. The unflappable Jessie Fleming, who had already delivered one of the biggest wins in Canadian soccer history with her penalty-kick goal against the United States in the semifinals, came through in the clutch once again. Make that twice again. She converted another second-half penalty to tie the match 1-1, then scored on Canada’s first attempt of the shootout. Gritty goalkeeper Steph Labbé made several huge saves in the shootout — and seemed to relish every second of the pressure-packed moment. Speaking of pressure, Canada needed to score on its fifth shootout attempt to stay alive. Deanne Rose buried it into the top-right corner. Then, after Labbé stopped Sweden’s first try of sudden death, Julia Grosso drilled home the gold-medal winner. And let’s not forget 38-year-old captain Christine Sinclair. The all-time leading goal scorer in international soccer couldn’t participate in the shootout after being removed from the match in the second half. But she’s carried this team for a very long time. It was great to see her teammates return the favour at the best possible moment.

Find live streams, must-watch video highlights, breaking news and more in one perfect Olympic Games package. Following Team Canada has never been easier or more exciting.

More from Tokyo 2020

Perhaps lost after all of this morning’s excitement, Canada won another medal earlier in Day 14. On Thursday evening in Canadian time zones, race walker Evan Dunfee took bronze in the Olympic finale of the men’s 50km race walk. Canada’s second four-podium day of these Games brings the country’s medal count up to 22 — six gold, six silver, 10 bronze.

It would be very hard to top a day like today. And, to be honest, we won’t. But there’s still something big for Canada to play for over the final two days of competition. A 23rd medal would break the national record for a non-boycotted Summer Olympics, currently shared by this team and the ones that competed in 2016 in Rio and 1996 in Atlanta.

There’s a good chance for it to happen tonight, so let’s start our daily Olympic viewing guide there. Plus, some other Canadians with podium hopes, and a new queen of Olympic medals.

Here’s what to watch on Friday night/Saturday morning:

After back-to-back bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games, Canada’s women’s soccer team had the biggest moment in its history, defeating Sweden for Olympic gold. 2:59

A women’s canoe duo can win Canada’s 23rd medal

After Laurence Vincent Lapointe took silver in the first-ever women’s canoe medal race at the Olympics and her doubles partner Katie Vincent placed a solid eighth in the individual event, the Canadians were favoured to win the inaugural women’s doubles gold. But they struggled a bit in the opening round, where the top two boats in each heat advance to the semifinals. The Canadians placed third, forcing them to compete in the quarter-finals. They won their heat, but that’s more energy than they’d like to exert.

China is now heavily favoured to win gold. The betting odds imply it’ll be a free-for-all between four boats (Canada, Ukraine, Germany, Hungary) for the other two podium spots. The semis begin at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the top four out of five in each heat advancing to the final at 10:37 p.m. ET.

Some other interesting things you should know about

Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore is making her second Olympic appearance — 17 years after her first. She ran the 1,500m at the 2004 Athens Games, then quit the sport eight years later, disillusioned with rampant doping by athletes from other countries. Elmore got into doing Ironman triathlons, had two kids, then decided to try the marathon for the first time in 2019. The next year, in just her second marathon ever, she crushed the Canadian record by running a 2:24:50 — at age 39. Now 41, Elmore will line up with fellow Canadians Natasha Wodak and Dayna Pidhoresky for the Olympic women’s marathon at 5 p.m. ET. The start was moved up an hour because of the brutal heat in Tokyo. Read more about Elmore here.

Canadians are in two medal races on the final day of track competition. They’re long shots for the podium, but Andrea Seccafien will run in the women’s 10,000m final at 6:45 a.m. ET, and the women’s 4x400m relay team competes in their final at 8:30 a.m. ET. 10,000m favourite Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who won the 5,000 earlier in the Games, saw her quest for an unprecedented triple end today when she settled for bronze in the 1,500. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon repeated as champ, while Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford finished fifth.

Two Canadians are in the hunt for a track cycling medal. After her surprising bronze in the women’s keirin, Lauriane Genest has advanced to the fourth round of the sprint event, along with Kelsey Mitchell. The latter looks like the stronger podium contender in this entertaining competition, which pits riders head-to-head, with the winners automatically advancing. The fourth round starts at 2:30 a.m. ET. The quarter-finals, which are best of three, begin at 3:39 a.m. ET. The semis and final go Saturday night.

And finally…

Allyson Felix won her 10th Olympic medal — the most ever by a woman in track and field. In what’s expected to be the final major individual race of her brilliant career, the 35-year-old American finished third in today’s women’s 400m final to break the record she’d shared with Jamaican runner Merlene Ottey. It was Felix’s first bronze, to go with six gold and three silver. Her first Olympic medal was a silver in the 200m in 2004, and she won the 200 in 2012 for her only Olympic individual title (the other five came in relays). Felix can win an 11th medal if she’s chosen to compete with the U.S. team in the women’s 4x400m on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

How to watch live events

They’re being broadcast on TV on CBC, TSN and Sportsnet. Or choose exactly what you want to watch by live streaming on CBC Gem, the CBC Olympics app and CBC Sports’ Tokyo 2020 website. Check out the full streaming schedule here.