Canadian Roundup: Double podiums, so many medals, and a world junior champ
It was a rousing weekend for Canadians competing on the international stage.
From unprecedented success in beach volleyball, to the multiple medals reeled in by the rowers, to a newly crowned world junior champion in athletics, here are all the details on what you might have missed:
Beach Volleyball
READ: Canadians win beach volleyball gold and bronze in Gstaad
It was a great weekend for two Canadian tandems at the FIVB Beach Volleyball Major Series in Gstaad, Switzerland. Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes won the gold medal while Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson claimed the bronze.
In the final, Pavan and Humana-Paredes fought off a match point against last year’s champions, Chantel Laboureur and Julia Sude of Germany, before scoring three straight points for the victory. This is the second Major Series title Pavan and Humana-Paredes have won since teaming up together last year. Bansley and Wilkerson’s medal made this the first time Canada had two women’s teams on the podium at the same World Tour event since the circuit began in 1992.
Rowing
READ: Four medals for Team Canada at World Cup in Lucerne
Four Canadian crews are coming home from the third and final World Rowing Cup of the season in Lucerne, Switzerland with medals. Hillary Janssens and Caileigh Filmer lost a tight battle for the gold in the women’s pair, finishing just 0.43 behind New Zealand’s Kerri Gowler and Grace Prendergast. In the women’s double sculls, Andrea Proske and Gabrielle Smith just edged out an American boat by 0.24 for the silver medal.
The women’s eight (Lisa Roman, Nicole Hare, Karen Lefsrud, Susanne Grainger, Christine Roper, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys, Rebecca Zimmerman, coxswain Kristen Kit) also won silver, finishing sandwiched between New Zealand and the United States. Carling Zeeman won bronze in the women’s single sculls. In total, there were eight Canadian boats which had qualified for seven A finals in Lucerne.
Mountain Bike
READ: Bronze for Batty at World Cup in Vallnord, Andorra
For the second straight weekend, Emily Batty raced to the cross-country podium at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, this time in Vallnord, Andorra. Batty won the bronze medal, finishing 22 seconds behind second-place finisher Jolanda Neff of Switzerland. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa of Norway won the gold medal by a margin of 25 seconds.
Golf
READ: Brooke Henderson finishes third at LPGA Marathon Classic
Brooke Henderson came close to earning her seventh career LPGA Tour victory, ultimately finishing third at the Marathon Classic. Henderson had a one-shot leading heading into the final round and maintained her momentum through 14 holes on Sunday before bogeys on 15 and 16 led to a final round 69. At 13-under-par for the tournament, she finished one stroke behind Thidapa Suwannapura and Brittany Lincicome, keeping her out of the playoff won by Suwannapura.
Diving
Peter Thach Mai had a day to remember at the FINA Diving Grand Prix in Madrid, winning silver in the men’s 3m springboard. The 20-year-old from Montreal scored 409.85 points to finish just 1.7 points ahead of Nicolas Garcia of Spain. Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandez won the gold medal with 421.20 points. This is the Mai’s first career individual Grand Prix medal.
Athletics
Camryn Rogers won Canada’s only medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, taking the women’s hammer throw gold with a distance of 64.90 metres. The 19-year-old from Richmond, B.C. achieved that on the first of her six attempts and the measurement held up for the victory. American Alyssa Wilson threw 64.45m for the silver while Cuban Yaritza Martinez claimed the bronze with a best effort of 63.82m.
Wrestling
Canadian wrestlers won 10 medals at the Grand Prix of Spain in Madrid. Olympic champion Erica Wiebe led the way with her gold medal in the 76kg event, sharing the podium with bronze medallist teammate Justina Di Stasio. There was also a double podium in the women’s 50kg category as Natasha Fox won silver and Jessie Macdonald took the bronze. Danielle Lappage won bronze in the 68kg event. In men’s freestyle, Jevon Balfour and Jasmit Phulka won gold and silver in the 74kg division, Darthe Capellan claimed silver in the 57kg event, and bronzes were won by Dillon Williams at 70kg and Lee Hunter at 92kg.
Judo
Alix Renaud-Roy won silver in the 70kg weight class at the Senior European Cup in Saarbrucken, Germany. She had advanced to the final by defeating German Jenny Werner by ippon in their semifinal. But Renaud-Roy then lost to another German, Giovanna Scoccimarro, by ippon. This is the second European Cup podium of the year for Renaud-Roy, who won gold in Belgrade last month.
