Paris 2024 Olympics Day 1: Summer McIntosh wins first Olympic medal to get Canada on the board
A silver for the 17-year-old was a highlight of Saturday's schedule.
Team Canada is on the board already at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, picking up one medal on the first day of competition after Friday’s opening ceremony.
Canada’s first medal was won in the pool by 17-year-old superstar Summer McIntosh, who finished second in the women’s 400m freestyle to pick up the first Olympic medal of her already incredibly successful career. Dubbed “the race of the century” in the months leading up to the Games, McIntosh was up against Australian world record holder Ariarne Titmus and American legend Katie Ledecky, who finished first and third, respectively.
McIntosh and the women’s 4x100m relay team finished one spot back of a medal in that event shortly after, finishing fourth, while the Canadian men finished sixth in the men’s 4x100m. Also in the pool, Maggie Mac Neil qualified for Sunday’s final in the women’s 100m butterfly, the event she won a gold medal in at Tokyo 2020. Rebecca Smith finished 24th in the 100m butterfly and didn’t advance past the first round.
One of the biggest Canadian stories of the day came in the men’s individual sabre fencing event. Fares Arfa came up against three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary in his opening match in the round of 32, and beat him 15-8 for a major upset. In the round of 16, Arfa was up against Bolade Apithy, who was both ranked higher and representing the hosts France, but caused another upset with another 15-8 victory.
In the round of eight his magical run came to an end, falling to eventual gold medallist Oh Sanguk of South Korea, but his result was Canada’s best ever in this event. Francois Cauchon was eliminated in the round of 64, while Shaul Gordon was knocked out in the round of 32.
“I came prepared, I came ready to go and I didn’t look at his name,” Arfa said of his upset victory over Szilagyi. “It doesn’t matter who’s in front of me, it’s a fight first and foremost against myself. So if I stay disciplined, follow the game plan, everything’s gonna work out and it did.”
Sixteen-year-old Ruien Xiao made it to the last 16 of the women’s individual epee event, upsetting former world champion Nathalie Moellhausen of Brazil in the round of 32 before narrowly losing 15-14 to Ukrainian fencer Olena Kryvytska.
The Canadian men’s basketball team played its first Olympic match since Sydney 2000 on Saturday, beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece 86-79 in their opening preliminary round match, led by 23 points from RJ Barrett. After being up 10 points at the half, Canada let their lead slip to just two points late in the game, but were able to find some timely buckets right at the end of the fourth quarter to hang on for the victory.
In gymnastics, Canada qualified for the final of the men’s team event for the first time ever with a cumulative score of 247.794, good for an eighth-place finish in the qualification round. Félix Dolci and René Cournoyer also qualified for the men’s individual all-around final.
Alex Baldoni and Lois Betteridge have both advanced to the semifinals of their canoe and kayak slalom events at Paris 2024. Baldoni placed 15th in the men’s C-1 heats while Betteridge was 22nd in the women’s K-1 heats.
In road cycling, the individual time trial events took place, with both Canadians finishing 20th — Olivia Baril in the women’s event and Derek Gee on the men’s side.
The equestrian eventing individual and team events got underway with the dressage portion. Canada is represented by Jessica Phoenix, Karl Slezak and Michael Winter, who sit in 42nd, 43rd, and 46th positions, respectively. As a team they are currently 14th after one of three days of competition.
In the men’s 10m Air Pistol event, Michele Esercitato finished 17th, missing the top-eight finish needed to qualify for the final. Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura lost their first group stage match of the men’s doubles competition, while Sophie Bukovec and Heather Bansley lost their opening match in women’s beach volleyball Pool B.
The men’s skateboarding street event, which was scheduled for Saturday, was moved to Monday after inclement weather, while several tennis matches — which were postponed for the same reason on the outdoor courts — will take place on Sunday.
What’s happening on Day 2?
Canadians are in action across 18 different sports on Day 2, and have several chances to add to their medal tally.
Below are all of the Canadian athletes competing on Sunday at the Olympic Games. Click here for CBC’s guide on when and where to watch every event.
Beginning on Saturday night in Canada due to the time difference with the host site in Tahiti, surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin was competing in the women’s shortboard event at the time of publication and had qualified for the second round later in the day.
In the pool, Maggie Mac Neil looks to repeat as the women’s 100m butterfly champion on Sunday after qualifying on Saturday. Tristan Jankovics competes in the 400m individual medley heats on Sunday morning, with the finals coming later in the day should he advance.
Three Canadian women — Jessica Guo, Eleanor Harvey, and Yunjia Zhang — will compete in the women’s individual foil fencing event, with all three starting in the round of 32 and looking to progress through the rounds to the evening’s medal matches. Nicholas Zhang will compete in the men’s individual epee competition, beginning in the round of 64.
In Judo, Kelly Deguchi will compete in the women’s 52kg event, beginning in the round of 32. She will look to advance round-by-round toward the medal bouts, which will take place on Sunday evening.
In kayak slalom, Lois Betteridge will compete in the semifinals of the K-1 event after qualifying on Day 1, looking to advance to the finals which take place later on Sunday.
Isabella Holmgren will be Canada’s lone competitor in the women’s mountain bike cross country race, part of a mass start of 36 cyclists.
Canadian athletes competing in non-medal events on day 2:
Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura play the second match of their badminton men’s doubles group stage, against Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh of Malaysia.
Daniel Dearing and Samuel Schachter open their Pool E schedule in the men’s beach volleyball competition.
Jessica Phoenix, Karl Slezak and Michael Winter continue the equestrian eventing competition with the second stages of the individual and team events, the cross country.
Canada’s women’s soccer team take on France in their second Group A match. For a full preview of that game, click here.
The women’s gymnastics events get underway, with qualifying for the team and all-around events, as well as the four individual apparatus — beam, floor exercise, uneven bars, and vault. Four gymnasts will compete on each apparatus, with the top three scores counting towards the team total. Canada is represented by Ellie Black, Shallon Olsen, Cassie Lee, Ava Stewart and Aurélie Tran.
Jill Moffatt and Jennifer Casson row in the heats of the final women’s lightweight double sculls event before it is removed from the Olympic program.
Canada plays Fiji and New Zealand in the first two matches of their women’s rugby sevens schedule.
Sister duo Georgia and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance will begin their sailing competition, racing together in the women’s 49erFX class event. Justin Barnes and Will Jones compete together in the men’s 49er event, which also starts on Sunday.
Sophie Angus races in the heats of the women’s 100m breaststroke event ahead of Monday’s final, while Javier Acevedo and Blake Tierney compete in the men’s 100m backstroke heats. Mary-Sophie Harvey will race in the heats of the 200m freestyle.
Tye Ikeda competes in the first round of the men's 10m Air Rifle shooting event. The top eight athletes advance to the final.
Eugene Wang and Edward Ly play round of 64 matches in the men’s single table tennis competition, while Mo Zhang does the same in the women’s singles.
Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu play their first round matches in the women’s singles tennis competition, while Milos Raonic and Félix Auger-Aliassime compete in the first round of the men’s event. Fernandez also opens her women’s doubles competition alongside Gabriela Dabrowski.
Canada open their men’s volleyball Pool A schedule against Slovenia.
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