As the closing ceremony nears, Canadian athletes are continuing to make an impression and push for their golden moments at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Canada’s Laurence Vincent Lapointe already has one cherished Olympic medal from Tokyo — and now she’s going for a second with teammate Katie Vincent.
The women are into the semifinals of the canoe double 500-metre race. The pair didn’t automatically qualify as they placed third in their heat, but ended up winning their quarter-final to advance.
And they’re not the only canoeists moving on up after the morning’s races.
Here’s more of what you missed in Tokyo on Friday:
A Canadian race-walking bronze
Depending on where you are across the country — or your sleeping schedule — you might have missed Canadian race-walker Evan Dunfee launch the day with a roaring result.
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.
Dunfee, the 30-year-old from Richmond, B.C., claimed the bronze in the 50-kilometre event.
After a roller-coaster of emotions in Rio 2016, he captured the first Olympic medal in 29 years by a Canadian in the competition.
Cyclists, diver moving on in competition
Canadian cyclists Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest made it through to the round of eight in the women’s sprint event at the Izu Velodrome.
Genest was coming off her bronze-medal achievement in the women’s keirin on Thursday.
Mitchell holds the world record for the 200m flying start at 10.154 seconds.
Meanwhile, Canadian diver Nathan Zsombor-Murray is into the semifinal of the men’s 10-metre platform event after placing fifth in the preliminary round.
His second dive, a forward 4 1/2 somersaults tuck, earned an incredible score of 96.20.
Fellow Canadian Rylan Wiens finished in 19th, just outside of the top 18 men who move on to the semifinals.
Canada’s soccer team kicks off gold-medal match
It might have been a quieter overnight in Canada, but it was only building to an action-packed and guaranteed thriller of a morning in Tokyo.
Grit. Vision. Talent. And a whole lot of passion.
As Canada awakes, the country’s women’s soccer team is preparing to take the field in the long-awaited gold-medal match against Sweden.
You can watch Canada charge onto the pitch for a shot at gold here.
Long-distance, middle-distance, and relay – Oh my!
If you were hoping for an even further adrenaline boost to carry you through the morning, you’re in luck. Here’s the lineup for track and field medal events, where Canadians are medal contenders.
You can also watch them compete in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo here.
First: Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight race in the men’s 5,000 metre final, scheduled for 8 a.m. ET.
Ahmed, 30-years-old from St. Catharines, Ont., had a fourth place finish in Rio 2016, and upped that at the 2019 world championships by winning bronze.
If a Canadian man ends up on the podium, they’ll be the first to earn an Olympic medal in the event.
Then: Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford will take to the track in the women’s 1,500-metre final, scheduled for 8:50 a.m. ET.
The 25-year-old from Toronto holds the Canadian record and ran a season-best three minutes 58.28 seconds in her semifinal heat.
Finally: Andre De Grasse anchors the men’s 4×100 metre relay team, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET.
Including De Grasse, the team of Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake, finished second in its heat.
De Grasse medalled in the relay, as well as the men’s 100 metre, 200 metre races in Rio 2016. After already winning medals in the other two events in Tokyo, he’ll try to secure them all again.
Three of the men were on that Olympic-bronze medal relay team, with the exception of Jerome Blake.
Golf races a storm
Golfers in the women’s tournament will get an early start tomorrow in hopes of avoiding a tropical storm. Organizers are hoping to beat the bad weather and warned players that if the storm interferes, it could mean reducing the tournament from 72 holes to 54.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp are in 40th and 44th place, respectively, after three of four rounds. Henderson is even at par, while Sharp is one-over.
American Nelly Korda is in the lead at 15-under.
Rhythmic gymnastics begins
In impressive displays of artistry and athleticism, rhythmic gymnastics started its qualification rounds for the individual all-around event on Friday.
Athletes showcased immense control and flexibility, performing leaps and spins behind the blur of a multi-coloured ribbon — as well as working with other apparatus — before tossing it impossibly high into the air.
Twins are at the top of the leader board, Dina and Arina Averina of the Russian Olympic Committee. Dina has won the gold at the past three world championships, and finished the qualifier narrowly ahead of her sister.
No Canadians are in the running: Gymnastics Canada did not send gymnasts to the 2021 Senior Pan American Championships, which was a last-chance Tokyo qualifier, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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