PARIS — From B-Boy gold to record-breaking, here are five things to know about the 2024 Games in Paris on Saturday:
NO ONE BEATS THE WIZARD
Canada lays claim to being a breaking country. Canadian b-boy Phil Wizard (Philip Kim) won gold in the men’s Olympic breaking tournament by outdoing French favorite Dany Dann (Danis Civil) in Saturday’s final. It’s the first men’s Olympic gold in the sport and could be the last for a while, as breaking is not part of the program at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Kim described his Olympic experience as “historic” and full of pastries. “A rollercoaster of emotions and a lot of pastries. I ate a lot of pastries,” he said.
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VICTORIOUS VINCENT
Having two Olympic bronze medals was nice, but Katie Vincent wanted more. So the sprint canoeist from Mississauga, Ontario, took that medal – in world record time. Vincent sprinted a furious time of 44.12 seconds to win the women’s 200-meter final, just one hundredth of a second ahead of American Nevin Harrison. The golden result came a day after Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie took bronze in the women’s double 500. Vincent won bronze in the same event three years ago in Tokyo with Laurence Vincent-Lapointe.
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Beaten by a nose
Edmonton’s Marco Arop was just one-hundredth of a second away from the top of the podium. The Edmonton runner took silver in the men’s 800-meter race after finishing just behind race winner Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya. Despite not taking gold, Arop was far from disappointed. He set a national record with a time of 1 minute 41.20 seconds and said he “couldn’t be happier” with his performance.
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RECORD YIELD
Kim, Vincent and Arop contributed to a record day for Canada at the Olympics. With their three medals, Canada has won a total of 27 medals with one day to go in competition, surpassing Canada’s previous highest haul at a non-boycotted Olympics by three. Canada’s nine gold medals through day 15 set a new record for most gold medals at a non-boycotted Olympics. Canada’s highest haul was 10 gold medals and 44 medals total at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but the competition was diluted by a Soviet-led Eastern Bloc boycott.
FIGHTING BROOKE
Canadian golfer Brooke Henderson was unable to maintain her good start in the final round of the women’s tournament on Saturday. Henderson, Canada’s most successful female golfer, was a dangerous opponent midway through the day but then faltered with two bogeys on the back nine and finished Le Golf National with a 1-under-par 71. The 26-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ontario, finished 13th, seven strokes behind gold medalist Lydia Ko of New Zealand.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press
