Daily Edition – Day 10: Back, back-backin’ it up
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Leveling The Playing Field
Hello!
With a literally show-stopping weekend in the books, let’s start this week on the right note and dig into the latest Olympic news. Music to our ears.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 20 | 16 | 12 | 48 |
| 🇺🇲 USA | 19 | 27 | 26 | 72 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 12 | 14 | 18 | 44 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada (11th) | 5 | 4 | 8 | 17 |
🏊 Summer McIntosh brought the heat to close out the swimming events, finishing with four total medals, including a gold in Saturday’s 200m IM medley that made her the first Canadian to win three golds in a single games. Teammate Kylie Masse captured bronze in the 200m backstroke, bringing her career Olympic medal total to five.
- On the men’s side, Josh Liendo (silver) and Ilya Kharun (bronze) made Canadian history, becoming the first duo with a double podium finish in the men’s 100m butterfly. Simply splashing.
🏃 Six-time Olympic medalist Andre De Grasse failed to advance to the men’s 100m final for the first time in his career after finishing fifth in his semis heat yesterday. De Grasse will now switch gears and aim to defend his Tokyo 200m gold medal.
🏀 Canada women’s basketball is heading home after losing 79–70 to Nigeria yesterday and finishing winless in group play. On the flip side, the men are through to the quarter-finals following an undefeated group play run.
🎾 Tennis great Novak Djokovic added a gold medal to his illustrious resume by topping Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final yesterday.
- As for the women, Zheng Qinwen of the People’s Republic of China claimed the country’s first gold medal in the sport with her Saturday singles win over Croatia’s Donna Vekić.
🥊 Amid continued gender misconceptions and controversy, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting and Algeria’s Imane Khelif clinched medals in women’s boxing and will compete in their respective semis later this week.
🚣 The Canadian women’s eight rowing team captured the silver medal on Saturday, finishing behind Romania and ahead of Great Britain. Oar-some.
🥉 Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski took home bronze in mixed doubles on Friday, Canada’s second-ever tennis medal and first since 2000.
- In more bronze medal news, Sophiane Méthot secured the final podium spot in women’s trampoline on Friday, one day before her 26th birthday. Wishes do come true.
CanWNT
⚽ Gotta keep your head up
The GIST: Embattled No. 8 CanWNT lost Saturday’s quarter-final (QF) 4–2 in a penalty shootout to No. 4 Germany, ending their gold medal defense and exiting the Olympics without hardware for the first time since 2008.
- But in a tourney plagued by off-field drama, the red and white deserve all the flowers for an impressive, tear-soaked run made against all odds. Onwards and upwards.
CanWNT found their offensive groove, rookies shined in international spotlight: The best word for this team? Gritty. They attempted 23 shots (!!!) in their QF loss, the majority of which came from explosive second-half subs — not bad for a team better known for their defensive prowess.
- None of those shots found the net, but it’s still a reassuring tactical shift, showcasing the team’s evolving never-say-die attitude.
- And it was spurred on by a youth movement — rookies Jade Rose and Simi Awujo were among the strongest performers on the largely veteran squad, a testament to CanWNT’s continued growth.
What’s next: Off the field, the work has just begun. FIFA fined Canada Soccer $313K CAD in connection to dronegate, and an independent probe will be conducted into the allegedly systemic culture of cheating.
- Similarly, Canada Soccer will need to decide who will take the reins as head coach (HC), assuming currently-banned HC Bev Priestman is dismissed entirely given her connection to the spying scandal.
- The good news? The roster’s bones are strong, tough, and relentless — the sky is truly the limit for these fighters.
Together With adidas
💅 Taken by the view
Peek behind the French curtain by checking out this day in the life of our very own social producer. And prepare for some fashion inspo — she’s decked out in a top-notch adidas ’fit while covering the world’s best athletes at the biggest sporting event of the summer.
- When you’re powered by adidas, it’s easy to slay from the cobblestone streets of Paris all the way to Toronto. Because with adidas, YOU GOT THIS.
🤸 Gymnast Kaylia Nemour takes uneven bars gold for Algeria
It’s the first Olympic gymnastics medal for an athlete representing an African country, and the French-born specialist had to beat out some heavy hitters to earn it, including Team USA’s Suni Lee, who took bronze, and the reigning uneven bars gold medalist, Belgium’s Nina Derwael. Flippin’ fantastic.
💨 The “fastest woman alive” is from St. Lucia
Sprinter Julien Alfred snagged the tiny Caribbean country’s first-ever medal when she bested American Sha’Carri Richardson (by 0.15 seconds) in the women’s Athletics 100m final on Saturday. The locals were understandably hyped.
❣️ Refugee Olympic Team earns first medal in the boxing ring
Cindy Ngamba took the women’s middleweight bronze yesterday, the first medal for the federation of refugee athletes since it first competed at the Olympics beginning in 2016. Ngamba left Cameroon — a country where she could be jailed for her queer identity — for the U.K. when she was 11 but is not yet a British citizen.
🔨 Ethan Katzberg wins first Canadian gold medal in hammer throw
Nanaimo, B.C.’s own dominated from his very first toss, opening with an Olympic record throw of a jaw-dropping 84.12 metres and never looking back on the way to the red and white’s first hammer medal in 112 years and first-ever gold. Someone warn the sprinters — this guy can really launch it.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🏅🤸 Women’s gymnastics floor exercise final | Today at 8:23 a.m. | 🇨🇦 Ellie Black |
| 🏖️🏐 Women’s beach volleyball round of 16 | Today at 12 p.m. | 🇨🇦 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson |
| 3️⃣🏀 3x3 women’s basketball semifinal | Today at 12:30 p.m. | 🇨🇦 Canada vs. 🇩🇪 Germany |
Together With Canadian Tire
This GIST in: Team Canada’s swim team crushed it at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (no surprises there).
- When the water settled on the swimming events yesterday, Canada’s swimmers had claimed eight medals. Teenage phenom Summer McIntosh led the way, winning four total medals, three of which were gold. The summer of Summer, indeed.
As a long-time partner of Team Canada, Canadian Tire is a proud champion of advancing gender equity and inclusivity in sports, which is why they teamed up with us to highlight the Team Canada Games’ barrier-breaking women athletes.
- Click here to learn more about Canadian Tire’s women’s sports advocacy and their Team Canada Paris 2024 Olympic Games initiatives. More glory to come.
Here’s what has GIST HQ buzzing:
💍 Where to cop your own championship ring
At Peoples Jewellery. Canada’s #1 diamond store only sells conflict-free diamonds set in high-quality materials, so you can be confident in your purchase — whether you’re snagging a Monday pick-me-up or a forever gem.*
🎱 Who’s ahead of the eight ball
The Black Widow, aka American professional pool player Jeannette Lee. Lee's tell-all memoir about her legendary career, growing up Korean-American, and her lifelong struggle with scoliosis is truly inspiring.
📖 What to read
This Front Office Sports explainer on the divisive decision to offer prize money for Olympic track & field medalists. Mo money, mo problems.
*P.S. This is a sponsored post. Shine on.Today’s email was brought to you by Lauren Tuiskula, Alessandra Puccio, Marga Sison, and Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Parul Kanwar. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster and Alessandra Puccio. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.