A look at five things to know from Thursday at the 2024 Paris Olympics

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This article was published 01/08/2024 (404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARIS – From another medal added to Summer McIntosh’s collection to the end of a long drought in Canadian boxing, here are five highlights from Thursday at the 2024 Paris Games:

GOLDEN SUMMER, AGAIN

Get used to this, Canada. Swimming star Summer McIntosh is a gold medallist once again. The 17-year-old phenom from Toronto swam to the top of the women’s 200-metre butterfly podium in two minutes 3.03 seconds, setting an Olympic record. It’s McIntosh’s third medal of the Paris Games after striking gold in the 400 individual medley and silver in 400 freestyle. Only George Hodgson in 1912 and Alex Baumann in 1984 have also won double gold among Canadian swimmers. McIntosh isn’t done, either. She’ll race in the 200 individual medley starting Friday.

PUNCHING THROUGH

Wyatt Sanford is set to accomplish something no Canadian boxer has achieved since 1996. The 25-year-old from Kennetcook, N.S., took down Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev to reach Sunday’s semifinals in the men’s 63.5-kilogram weight class, guaranteeing himself a medal — the only question is which colour. Both athletes who lose in the semifinals earn bronze in boxing. David Defiagbon won heavyweight silver at Atlanta 1996 for Canada’s last Olympic boxing podium, and no one has won gold since Lennox Lewis in 1988. Sanford will fight France’s Sofiane Oumiha for a spot in the final.

BACK-TO-BACK?

The Canadian women’s eights rowing team will have a chance to defend its title after all. After placing third in their heat Monday, the Tokyo 2021 gold medallists finished second with a time of six minutes 4.81 seconds in the repechage to punch their ticket to Saturday’s final. They’ll be hoping history repeats itself. Canada also failed to qualify through its heat at the Tokyo Games before finishing second in the repechage and rowing to gold in the final. The defending champs join Great Britain, Romania, the United States, Australia and Italy for a chance to bring home more hardware.

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ANOTHER UPSET

Felix Auger-Aliassime is finding another gear at the Paris Games. A day after upsetting World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime knocked off No. 6 seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 to make the men’s tennis singles semifinals. Auger-Aliassime will play for gold or bronze depending on how Friday’s semifinal bout against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain goes. The 23-year-old from Montreal has his work cut out for him. Alcaraz is the hottest player in tennis as this year’s French Open and Wimbledon champion. He’s also defeated Auger-Aliassime in straight sets in their last three meetings.

A TOUCH SHORT

Canada fell just shy of adding to its fencing medal haul after reaching its first Olympic podium in the sport earlier this week. The Canadian fencing team placed fourth in the women’s team foil, dropping a hard-fought bronze-medal bout 33-32 to Japan. Yuka Ueno clinched bronze against Hamilton’s Eleanor Harvey, who cut into Japan’s lead but ran out of time in the final bout at the Grand Palais. Harvey made history with her bronze medal in the women’s individual foil last Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.