Weekend Roundup: Canadians smash standards at Olympic Trials
With under a month until Tokyo 2020, it was a busy weekend for Team Canada athletes, many of whom are in the last phase of their preparations. Keep reading to reveal the details.
Canadian track and field stars shine in Montreal 🤩
READ: Athletics Olympic Trials: Lovett clears the bar
READ: Athletics Olympic Trials: Brown and Emmanuel secure 200m titles, Warner wins 110m hurdles
Many Canadian track and field athletes came together in Montreal to compete at the the 2021 Olympic Trials presented by Bell. The trials offered an opportunity for athletes to achieve the Olympic standard in their event (if they didn’t have it already) or earn points to improve their world rankings to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
On Friday Lindsey Butterworth and Melissa Bishop-Nriagu ran under and matched the Olympic standard in the women’s 800m event. John Gay provided an incredible moment in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, reaching the finish line nearly 30 seconds before anyone else to go under Olympic standard. On Sunday, Django Lovett cleared 2.33 metres to hit the Olympic qualifying standard in the men’s high jump.
READ: Athletics Olympic Trials: Brown, Emmanuel defend 100m titles
Aaron Brown, Crystal Emmanuel and Damian Warner all secured two gold medals each. Brown and Emmanuel captured both the 100m and 200m titles for the men and women’s events. Warner took a break from competing in the 10 decathlon events to take home the crown for the men’s 110m hurdles and men’s long jump.
Tough times at Tour de France 🚴♂️
Mike Woods bounced back with a strong performance on stage two of Tour de France.
After a difficult start to the race, with many riders crashing during stage 1 on Saturday, Woods demonstrated great character on Sunday’s stage. Proving his strength, he followed the top favourites on the challenging finish to take 11th place on day two.
Next Stop: Wimbledon 🇬🇧
It has been two years since tennis’ best competed at Wimbledon, but now the Championships are back. Canada will be well represented by a group of seven at the All England Club. Play begins on Monday June 28, with the women’s final on July 10 and the men’s final on July 11, 2021.
Denis Shapovalov, Vasek Pospisil and Félix Auger-Aliassime are set to compete in men’s singles. Pospisil is also playing in doubles. On the women’s side, Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Fernandez will compete in singles. Fernandez, Sharon Fichman and Gabriela Dabrowski will be competing in women’s doubles.
