A look at 5 things to know from Monday, Aug. 2, at the Tokyo Olympics

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This article was published 02/08/2021 (1500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

From a Canadian soccer victory over the United States to an athletics sister act, here here are five things to know from Monday, Aug. 1, at the Tokyo Olympics.

WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM WINS BIG

The Canadian women’s soccer team will win a third straight Olympic medal — and this time, they’re changing the colour. The team is moving on to the gold-medal match after a 1-0 victory over the United States. Jessie Fleming scored on a penalty in the 74th minute to lead Canada to a 1-0 win over the United States in semifinal action at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. Bronze medallists at the 2012 London Games, and again four years later in Rio de Janeiro, the Canadians will earn the medal upgrade they are seeking Friday at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, where Canada will face Sweden.

CANADA’S DOUBLE BEACH VOLLEYBALL THREAT

Canada is sending two beach volleyball teams to the women’s quarterfinals after another near-perfect performance by Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan. The Canadian duo dispatched Spain’s Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan 2-0 in a round-of-16 match at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, overpowering their opponents 21-13, 21-13. the reigning world champions, have not dropped a set in Tokyo, winning all three of their pool matches 2-0. Canada is now the only country with two teams in the semis. Heather Bansley of London, Ont., and Toronto’s Brandie Wilkerson play Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in their quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, just before Toronto’s Humana-Paredes and Pavan of Kitchener, Ont., will face Australia’s Mariafe Artacho Del Solar and Taliqua Clancy.

SEMIFINAL SISTER ACT

Two Canadian sisters are through to the semifinals of the women’s 1,500-metre. Twenty-five-year-old Gabriela Debues-Stafford of Toronto won her heat to qualify for Wednesday’s semifinal with a time of 4:03.70. Her younger sister Lucia Stafford, 22, was not to be outdone. She finished seventh with a personal-best time of 4:03.52 and advanced as well.

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BLACK AND BILES TO RETURN

Tuesday’s Olympic balance beam final will be featuring a couple of comeback stories. The Canadian Olympic Committee confirmed Monday that Ellie Black will compete in the event after pulling out of last Thursday’s women’s all-around final with an ankle sprain. She’ll be joining American gymnast Simone Biles, who is expected to return to competition on beam after withdrawing from all the other finals to focus on her mental health. The six-time medallist qualified for the individual all-around and all five individual event finals but took herself out of all but the beam after she said she was dealing with issues surrounding air awareness.

NO HELP FOR HOOPS TEAM

Canada’s women’s basketball team was officially eliminated from the Olympic tournament after it didn’t get the help it needed in Monday’s final group stage games. Canada finished third in its pool at 1-2 after losing 76-66 to Spain on Sunday, and needed its point differential to stand up in order to qualify as one of the two highest-ranked third-place teams. But France kept the score close in a loss to the United States and Australia beat Puerto Rico by a whopping 27 points on Monday, moving Canada to ninth in the combined standings and out of medal contention.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug 2, 2021.