PARIS — A surprise bronze in trampoline set the tone on Day 7 at the Paris Olympics before podium finishes in tennis and swimming gave Canada its second multi-medal day of the Games.
Competing on the eve of her 26th birthday, Sophiane Méthot of Varennes, Que., flipped and twisted her way to the podium with a score of 55.650 in the trampoline single-exercise final. The result confirmed early that Canada would get a medal for a seventh straight day in Paris.
Canadian athletes added two more bronze medals, with Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski taking bronze in mixed tennis doubles and Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., winning her fifth career Olympic medal with a third-place finish in the women's 200 backstroke.
And there were a couple of close calls, Toronto swimmer Josh Liendo finishing fourth in the men's 50-metre freestyle and Moh Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., ending up just off the podium in the men's 10,000 metres.
Canada ended the day ninth in the overall medal count with 11 (three gold, two silver, six bronze).
With medals in seven straight days of competition, Canada is two back of its longest medal streak to start a Games set at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Méthot, ranked 11th in the world, said she put together the "performance of a lifetime" in her Olympic debut. There were nervous moments as she had to sit through one last performer before her medal was confirmed, but China's Hu Yicheng fell during her final to ensure the Canadian was safe in third place.
"It was really intense," said Méthot, who earned the sixth and final spot in the final at the qualifying session. "I did everything I could out there, and I'm just really proud of myself for doing a great routine."
Méthot may not have been a medal favourite entering Paris, but she helped Canada re-establish itself as a leading country in trampoline. Canada had a trampoline medallist every OIympics since the sport debuted in 2000, until Rosie MacLennan finished fourth three years ago in Tokyo in her bid for a third straight gold medal.
Britain's Bryony Page (56.480), the Tokyo bronze medallist, won gold on Friday. Silver went to Belarusian gymnast Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya (56.060), who is competing as a neutral athlete
In tennis, Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski scored four straight points in a second-set tiebreaker, including the last two on return, to reach the podium with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.
The Canadians appeared to be coasting to victory after going up two quick breaks in the second set. But the Dutch dup, backed by a vocal contingent of fans at Roland Garros, got those breaks back to force the tiebreaker.
Canada's only other Olympic tennis medal came in 2000, when Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau beat the heavily favoured Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in the men's doubles final at the Sydney Games.
"It's incredible," Auger-Aliassime said. "I've won tournaments during my individual career, but winning as a team means something different. The emotions are doubled.
"It means a lot to me. I have vivid memories of the Olympic Games ... Adding my name to the list of Canadian medallists is a great pleasure, it's a career achievement."
Earlier, Auger-Aliassime's quest for men's singles gold came to an end after he was decisively defeated 6-1, 6-1 by Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in Friday's semifinals.
The Canadian will meet Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in Saturday's bronze-medal match.
In swimming, Masse fought off a challenge from American Phoebe Bacon to touch the wall third in what was a fast 200 backstroke.
Australia's Kaylee McKeown won in an Olympic-record time of two minutes 3.73 seconds, followed by Regan Smith of the United States (2:04.26) and Masse, who led after 50 metres and rode her fast start to the podium.
Also Friday, Canada's track and field team got off to a strong start. Audrey Leduc of Gatineau, Que., set a Canadian record of 10.95 seconds to lead her heat in the women's 100 metres.
World champion Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., qualified first in the men's hammer throw at 79.93 metres, ahead of Rowan Hamilton of Chilliwack, B.C., who was second with a personal-best throw of 77.78 metres.
Also Friday, defending Olympic champion Damian Warner of London, Ont., was fourth after the first five events of the decathlon.
Warner had 4,651 points, 27 behind third-place Sander Skotheim of Norway. Geramny's Leo Neugebauer led with 4,650 while Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico moved into second at 4,608 with the best time in the 400.
In men's basketball, Canada finished the preliminary round atop its group with a 3-0 record after an 88-85 win over Spain in Lille. Canada held on despite being outscored 47-39 by Spain in the second half.
Jordi Fernandez, Canada's Spanish coach, says the fact that Spain came close to pulling out a comeback win will ultimately benefit his team.
"They (Spain) won that second half," Fernandez said. "We were not good enough in that second half. I think we were a little loose with our execution. We were not good with rebounding throughout the game.
"But we find a way and when you don't have experience in this type of games, and you don't know what this type of games mean, the only way you can get experience is going through it.
"Now we have a group of guys that have gone through a World Cup, now the Olympics and I think right now our experience is taking us to the next level."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.
The Canadian Press
