Canadian women’s rugby team wins silver at Paris 2024 – National
A fiery silver medal for women rugby 7 Team Canada kept Canada’s medal streak alive on Tuesday at Paris Olympic Games.
Canada fell 19-12 to defending champions New Zealand in the rugby sevens final in Paris, winning its sixth medal of the Games.
The plucky Canadians looked set to surprise the rugby behemoths when they took a 12-7 lead into the break with two tries late in the first half.
Chloe Daniels scored a try and converted to level the score at 7-7, then as time ticked away on half-time Alysha Corrigan stole the ball and found space to run it in to give Canada a stunning lead.
But New Zealand responded in the second half with tries from Michaela Blyde and Stacey Waaka and a conversion from Tyla King to defend their title.
The Canadian women’s rugby sevens team steps onto the podium after winning silver in competition at the Paris Summer Olympics on Tuesday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Canadian forward Caroline Crossley (1) runs towards New Zealand fullback Tyla King (7) during the women’s rugby sevens gold medal match at the Paris Summer Olympics on Tuesday.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The silver medal in rugby gave Canada six medals (two gold, two silver, two bronze) after four days of full competition.
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Canada’s run to the rugby final includes a resounding 21-12 semi-final victory over Australia. It was one of three wins for Canada in a team sport competition against its Commonwealth cousin on Tuesday.
Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Canada improved to 2-0 in men’s basketball with a 93-83 win over Australia in Lille. And in women’s 3×3 basketball, Canada opened with a 22-14 victory over the Australians.
While Barrett’s performance gave Canada a key win against a strong Australian side, he credited superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for making life easier on the field.
“I’m on the court with Shai, one of the best players in the world,” said Barrett, from Mississauga, Ont. “Just playing with him gets the whole team open because he gets so much attention. So we’re really trying to help him out.”
Canada ends the preliminary round on Friday against Spain.
The women’s 3×3 team was led by Edmonton twins Katherine and Michelle Plouffe, who combined for 18 of Canada’s 22 points.
The victory is a form of revenge for the Canadians, who were eliminated by Australia in an Olympic qualifying tournament and had to travel to Paris for a last-chance tournament.
“We had a really solid game plan. We watched those games to make sure we were ready. They’re a really strong team and we knew we had to be ready,” said Paige Crozon of Humboldt, Sask., who added four points and four rebounds.
Canada had mixed results in tennis, with Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime dominating his men’s second-round match 6-0, 6-1 against Germany’s Maximilian Marterer and Leylah Fermamdez losing her women’s third-round match 6-4, 6-3 to another German veteran, Angelique Kerber.
“I’m very disappointed with the way I played,” Fernandez said, struggling to contain her emotions.
“I made a lot of forced errors, a lot of unforced errors. I didn’t play a very smart game. Angie saw the door open and came in.”
In artistic gymnastics, the Canadian women’s team led by four-time Olympian Ellie Black of Halifax matched its career best finish with a fifth-place finish. The U.S. team led by Simone Biles easily won gold, but Canada was fourth heading into the final rotation before being overtaken by Great Britain. Italy was second and Brazil third.
In swimming, Kylie Masse of LaSalle, Ont., narrowly missed adding to her career medal haul with a fourth-place finish in the 100-metre backstroke. Masse, who won silver and bronze in the event at previous Games, was leading at the turn but couldn’t hold on to her podium spot.
In the men’s 200-metre butterfly, Montreal’s Ilya Kharun had the third-fastest time in the semifinals and could be a medal contender in Wednesday’s final.
In judo, Canada failed to build on the gold medal won Monday by Christa Deguchi, with Tokyo bronze medallist Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard of Saint-Hubert, Que., and François Gauthier Drapeau of Alma, Que., both losing their repechage matches.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
