Weekend Roundup: Two Canadian teams land their spot at Tokyo 2020
With multiple podium finishes, one national record, two national awards and two Tokyo qualifications, Team Canada jumped into the first weekend of July on a high.
In case you missed the action, here is a quick snapshot of what happened this past weekend!
Rugby
Team Canada’s men’s rugby sevens team has locked in their spot for Tokyo 2020 after going undefeated at the Rugby Americas North tournament.
Canada advanced to the finals by defeating Guyana 47-5 in the quarterfinals, and beating Bermuda 55-0 in the semifinals. In the finals they capped off their win streak with a 40-5 over Jamaica to claim the gold.
Not only were the Canadians able to outscore their opposition 293 – 15 throughout the tournament, but this is their first ever qualification for an Olympic Games making this a huge win for Team Canada.
READ: Men’s rugby sevens qualify for Tokyo
Beach Volleyball
Team Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes also punched their ticket to Tokyo 2020 after defeating the American pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
The duo defeated USA in two straight sets to win Canada’s first ever title of the tournament.
READ: Pavan and Humana-Paredes claim world title
Judo
Canada’s judo athletes had a strong weekend and clinched a total of nine medals (one gold, four silvers and four bronzes) on home soil at the Montreal Judo Grand Prix.
In the -57kg weight class, Christa Deguchi and Jessica Klimkait started the tournament off strong, finishing 1-2 on the podium, respectively. Jacob Valois ended off Canada’s day with the -60kg bronze.
On Saturday, Antoine Valois-Fortier (-81 kg) and Kelita Zupancic (-70 kg) each earned a silver medal, while Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (-63 kg) and Antoine Bouchard (-73 kg) scooped up bronze.
On the final day of competition, Shady El Nahas (-100kg) locked in the final silver medal of the weekend and Kyle Reyes (-100kg) won the bronze.
Tennis
Overseas on the grass courts in England, Milos Raonic and Gaby Dabrowski are the final Canadians standing at Wimbledon.
On Friday, Raonic defeated Reilly Opelka in three straight sets and is ready for his match against the number 28 seed, Argentine Guido Pella at 11:00am on Monday.
On Monday morning, Dabrowski locked in a spot in the women’s doubles quarterfinals with her partner Xu Yifan, and plays again later in the day at 12:30pm ET for mixed doubles.
READ: FAQ: Canadians at Wimbledon
RELATED: Why are strawberries and cream popular at Wimbledon?
Athletics – Diamond League
On Friday, Brittany Crew took home a silver in women’s shot put with a throw of 18.46m at the Diamond League in Lausanne. This landed her a spot at the Diamond League Final in Zurich at the end of August.
In the 200m, Andre De Grasse claimed bronze with a time of 19.92 seconds with teammate Aaron Brown just behind in fourth with a time of 19.95 seconds.
Even though De Grasse was unable to beat American Noah Lyles (who set a new meet record that day), he was just shy of his 200m season’s best, while Brown earned a new personal best.
Brown also won bronze in the 100m race.
Athletics – Racewalking
Evan Dunfee set a new national record on Sunday in the 10,000m race walking at the BC Athletics Championship. He earned a time of 38:54.20, beating his previous record of 39:21.30 set in 2016.
Awards
Cross-country skier Beckie Scott and figure skater Kurt Browning received the Governor General’s Order of Canada on July 4th.
Scott has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his fight against doping in sport, and Browning has received the title of Member of the Order of Canada through his embodiment of the ideals of Canadian sport: excellence, integrity and spirit athletic.
