Five takeaways from Sunday at the Games - The Globe and Mail

Left to right: Bronze medalist Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem, Margaret Macneil and Penny Oleksiak of Team Canada pose after the medal ceremony for the women's 4 x 100m medley relay final.

Maja Hitij/Getty Images AsiaPac

CANADA’S MOST DECORATED

In her last event at the Tokyo Olympics, Penny Oleksiak finally got the medal that put her into a class of her own among Canada’s Olympians. The Toronto swimmer helped Canada to a bronze medal in the medley relay, giving her seven Olympic medals overall. Oleksiak is now the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all time, as her one gold, two silver and four bronze moved her past speedskater Cindy Klassen and cyclist-speedskater Clara Hughes. Oleksiak won her sixth medal earlier in the Games with a bronze in the 200 freestyle, but finished fourth in her next two events before getting her record-breaking medal Sunday. “Once I got that sixth, there was a little bit of pressure on me to get that seventh medal,” she said. “My two other races I was really thinking about it, get that seven, get that seven. Then I came fourth and both of those hurt a little bit. “But then, honestly, on the last race, I accepted it. I have six Olympic medals. I’m not going to complain if I leave here with six Olympic medals.”

OTHER POOL MILESTONES

Caeleb Dressel and Emma McKeon earned milestone medals at the Olympic pool. Dressel won two more gold medals on Sunday to give him five in the Tokyo Olympics, winning the 50-metre freestyle and putting the Americans ahead to stay in the 4x100 medley relay on their way to a world record. Dressel join Americans Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi, as well as East Germany’s Kristin Otto, as the swimmers to win as many as five golds at a single Olympics. Phelps did it three times. McKeon became the first female swimmer and second woman in any sport to claim seven medals at one Olympics. Four of them were gold, the other three bronze. The only other woman to win seven – in any sport – was Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya, who claimed two golds and five silvers at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

REVIEW TO THE RESCUE (EVENTUALLY)

Canada’s Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson’s close win over Americans Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes in the women’s beach volleyball round-of-16 came with a little added tension. The Canadians led 12-11 in the decisive third set when a serve from Sponcil was ruled out-of-bounds. The Americans called for a challenge using a system introduced five years ago at the Rio Olympics. The replay on the stadium video board showed the ball had clearly landed out. Yet the video board said the ball was out and the challenge was successful, which isn’t possible. The players complained to the referee, and the stadium announcer explained that the challenge would be reviewed again. The call was corrected, and instead of a 12-12 tie it was 13-11, with Canada leading. The Canadians went on to win 22-24, 21-18, 15-13 and set up a quarter-final match Tuesday with Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka.

CANADIAN UPS AND DOWNS

Sarah Douglas entered Sunday’s medal race in fourth position, but dropped two spots after sailing to ninth in the final.

CARLOS BARRIA/Reuters

On the track, Edmonton’s Marco Arop, 22, led most of the 800-metre semi-final but fell behind at the very end to finish seventh. He failed to qualify to the final. In the men’s high jump final, Toronto’s Django Lovett could not clear the 2.33-metre mark and finished in seventh place. Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy tied Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim for gold. Toronto sailor Sarah Douglas finished sixth in the women’s laser radial competition, the best-ever result for Canada in that event. Douglas entered Sunday’s medal race in fourth position, but dropped two spots after sailing to ninth in the final. In golf, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., carded a final round of six-under 65 to finish 13th overall. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., ended up 50th after a final round of four over. Xander Schauffele of the United States won the golfing gold with a one-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia.

U.S. DRAWS SPAIN FOR QUARTERS

Team USA and Spain will meet in the men’s basketball quarter-finals when the knockout rounds begin Tuesday in Saitama, Japan. The Americans have beaten Spain in the past three Olympics – in the 2016 semi-finals and in the finals in 2012 and 2008 – and are 16-2 against them in Olympic and World Cup play overall. Spain fell out of the seeded pool with a 95-87 loss to Slovenia in the Group C finale. The U.S. lost its opener against eventual Group A winner France. Both teams finished second in their groups. The U.S. and Spain are Nos. 1 and 2 respectively in the world rankings. The other quarter-final clashes are France vs. Italy, Australia vs. Argentina, and Slovenia vs. Germany. The gold-medal game is Friday, with the bronze-medal game the following day.

HOOPS TEAM NEEDS HELP

Canada’s women’s basketball team will be scoreboard watching on Monday. The Canadians will need a bit of help to advance to the tournament quarter-finals after a 76-66 loss to Spain left them third in their preliminary-round group at 1-2. Canada almost got the help it needed when South Korea led Serbia late in the final group-stage game of the night. But Serbia came back to win 65-61 and take second place in the group. The top two teams in each pool advance as well as the top two third-place teams. The remaining quarter-finalists won’t be known until the final preliminary-round games finish up Monday.

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Five takeaways from Sunday at the Games - The Globe and Mail
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