Canadian Roundup: Big victories, fast times and more

April 24, 2017

By Camille Wallace

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Things are heating up in summer sports as Rugby Canada’s women took down the Olympic champions and Canadian sprinters struck gold at world relays.

The mixed curling world championships are also officially underway in Alberta.

Rugby

Read: Canadian women’s sevens claim silver in Kitakyushu

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Great things happened this weekend! So proud of this team! Looking forward to the next stop in langford! #kitakyushu7s #rugby7s #japan #rugbycanada @rugbycanada #redwall #family #team

A post shared by Julia Greenshields (@juliagreenshields) on Apr 23, 2017 at 2:50pm PDT

It was a great weekend for Rugby Canada’s women at the World Series stop in Japan. The team went undefeated heading into the gold medal final, beating top teams including Australia 33-0. In the final it was a battle with New Zealand where the Canadians fell 17-14, to clinch silver. Next up, the Canadians will head home for the next stop on the circuit in Langford, BC.

Athletics

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🥇🥇GOLDEN🥇🥇#iaafworldrelays

A post shared by Athletics Canada (@athleticscanada) on Apr 23, 2017 at 9:36pm PDT

Over the weekend, Athletics Canada’s top relay runners headed to the Bahamas for IAAF World Relays, a qualifier for this summer’s 2017 world championships in London. The men’s 4x100m team of Andre De Grasse, Akeem Haynes, Brendon Rodney and Aaron Brown qualified for the final with the fastest seed time. Unfortunately Canada was disqualified in the final, after Rodney dropped the baton following the second exchange. The Canadians were able to shake off their 4x100m finish and came back to win the non-Olympic 4x200m relay with Gavin Smellie replacing Haynes.

Diving

READ: Divers leave Windsor with three World Series medals

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You can tell how close we are with the size of our smile. Very proud of our silver medal yesterday. #competition #silver #canada #Windsor #athlete #athleteslife #Diving #synchro

A post shared by Jennifer Abel || Olympic diver (@jennabel91) on Apr 22, 2017 at 9:03am PDT

Canadian divers were on home soil this weekend, capping off the World Series circuit in Windsor, Ontario. Five Canadians – Jennifer Abel, Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu, Meaghan Benfeito, Vincent Riendeau and Francois Imbeau-Dulac – earned spots on the FINA podium, clinching a total of three silver medals.

Tennis

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"This weekend has been such a great experience, I am going to take a lot of memories from it. Today was the best win of my life!" – 16 year old @biancaandreescu_ after propelling Canada into the World Group. 😁👏 #FedCup #GoCanada #Montreal

A post shared by Tennis Canada (@tenniscanada) on Apr 23, 2017 at 2:03pm PDT

This weekend Montreal tennis fans saw a close and thrilling meeting between Canada and Kazakhstan. Victories by Françoise Abanda and Bianca Andreescu in the World Group II playoff helped Canada to secure a spot in the 2018 World Group II for the first time since 2016.

Beach Volleyball

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Podium! Proud to bring home the bronze medal 🥉with @caleigh.whitaker! Lost a tough 3-set match to Cuba in the semis, but bounced back to win the Bronze over USA. Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers, Cayman Islands is always the best stop on the #NORCECA tour each year! 👌🌴 . Shout out to my main squeeze @mavhat and his partner @gmaymadness for grabbing the silver medal! Loved watching them out on the court together this weekend. . First tourney outdoors for the season was a success, but now it's time to find some aloe for this sunburn. Bronze medal, not body…haha 😩 #rookie #sohot #sunscreen #teamcanada #norceca #beachvolleyball #cayman #bronze

A post shared by JAMIE HATCH (BRODER) (@brodes6) on Apr 24, 2017 at 9:10am PDT

Rio 2016 Olympian Jamie Broder met the NORCECA podium in the Cayman Islands with her new partner Caleigh Whitaker. After losing a close three set match in the semifinals against Cuba, the Canadian came back to win a battle for bronze against USA.

Mixed Curling

Related: Mixed curling prepares to make its Olympic debut

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That's how you do it! Double takeout from Jo to score 3, 5-1 lead after 3! #curling #wmdcc2017

A post shared by Curling Canada (@curlingcanada) on Apr 23, 2017 at 5:20pm PDT

The World Mixed Curling Championships is underway in Alberta and reigning world champion Joanne Courtney and teammate Reid Carruthers are off to a strong start. The pair kicked the tournament off with wins over Turkey (10-4) and France (9-1) for a perfect record after the first two days. The tournament continues through April 29 in Lethbridge and will determine the seven countries joining the South Korean hosts at PyeongChang 2018, where the discipline will make its Olympic debut.