Olympic newsletter: Is Canada having its best Summer Games ever?
CBC
This is an excerpt from CBC Sports' daily newsletter, The Buzzer. Subscribe here to get the latest on the Paris Olympics in your inbox every day.
The medal streak is over.
No Canadians reached the podium on Day 10 in Paris — the first time that's happened since the official start of competition. Nine consecutive days with at least one medal equalled the Canadian record set in 2016 in Rio and matched at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
A close call came in women's 3x3 basketball, where Canada lost 16-15 to Germany in the semifinals before falling 16-13 to the United States in the bronze game.
Despite the dry day, Canada still has a good shot at making this its best Summer Olympics ever. The national record for a non-boycotted Summer Games is 24 medals, set three years ago in Tokyo. The record for gold medals is seven — established in 1992 in Barcelona and matched in Tokyo.
With six days of competition left, Canada has 17 medals, including five gold. And even though Summer McIntosh is done, there are still plenty of quality Canadian medal chances to come.
WATCH | CBC's Meg Roberts tells you what to watch on Day 11:
Perhaps the strongest one arrives Tuesday, when women's world champion Camryn Rogers tries for a Canadian sweep of the hammer throw golds (more on that below). Other track and field stars coming up include men's 800m world champion Marco Arop, women's shot put contender Sarah Mitton and Olympic men's 200m champ Andre De Grasse, who advanced to the semifinals today. De Grasse's men's 4x100m relay team will be in the mix too.
Canoeist Katie Vincent has a good shot at two medals — in the women's single event and the double with Sloan MacKenzie. Breakdancer Phil Wizard is a top contender for the B-Boys gold, and Canada's artistic swimmers are projected to reach the podium in the team event. Plus, the Canadian men's basketball team looks like a big-time medal threat heading into Tuesday's quarterfinal matchup with France (more on that below too).
So, yeah, there's plenty more to look forward to — including some exciting stuff on Day 11. Let's dive into that in our daily viewing guide, along with some of today's key results.
Basketball: Canada vs. France in the men's quarterfinals
The Canadian men's team's first Olympic appearance since 2000 is going really well. Led by NBA MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada won all three of its games in a tough group, beating two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece 86-79 before dispatching 2021 bronze medallist Australia 93-83 and holding off always-tricky Spain 88-85.
SGA, as always, is the straw that stirs the drink. The star point guard is averaging an efficient 19 points along with four rebounds and four assists and is the go-to guy when Canada needs a bucket. Toronto Raptors wing RJ Barrett leads the team with 21 points per game (fourth-most in the tournament) while gritty forward Dillon Brooks is chipping in 14 points and four boards.
The only real question mark so far is Jamal Murray, who was supposed to give Canada one of the best starting backcourts in Paris alongside Gilgeous-Alexander. Instead, head coach Jordi Fernandez has brought the fragile guard off the bench for less than 20 minutes per game (tied with Andrew Nembhard for sixth on the team). Murray, who scored 21 points a game this season with the Denver Nuggets, is averaging less than six in Paris, though with a team-high 4.7 assists.
Almost four years ago at the inaugural competition for mixed team aerials at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, three Canadians took home bronze medals.
Skate Canada’s move as the first sports federation to announce it will no longer hold national- and international-level events in Alberta due to the province’s legislation on transgender people's participation in sports did not come as a surprise to some who know the organization well.
Steven Rajewsky realized Savannah Sutherland belonged at the world level when he watched her become the youngest-ever Canadian to reach an Olympic track final and perform well against the best female hurdlers.
Kids banged on the glass and cheered every drill and shot the pros made inside Scotiabank Centre, hoping to catch a player’s eye and maybe even a puck.
Unlikely partnership forges potential Paralympic medal threats in alpine skier Eriksson, guide Smith
Just five years ago, the idea of Kalle Eriksson competing for Canada at the Paralympics would have been unthinkable.
Hilary Knight scored twice, including an empty-netter, to lead the United States to a 4-1 win over Canada in a women's hockey Rivalry Series game Saturday.
When a teenaged Chloe Primerano made her debut on the Canadian women’s hockey team last season, Jocelyne Larocque was often the steady force beside her on the blue line.
The Vancouver Canucks announced Friday that they have traded captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild.
Canada's Kevin Drury battled his way to a gold medal that left him in tears at a World Cup ski cross event on Friday in Val Thorens, France.
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “disappointed” that the main arena slated to host ice hockey at February’s Olympics isn’t yet completed with less than two months to go before the Games are scheduled to be played.
A two-year suspension from competitive swimming has forced Penny Oleksiak to answer questions about drug use, train by herself in public pools and defend her legacy as Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
Hockey, one of the premier events at the Winter Olympics and one that is welcoming NHL players back for the first time in more than a decade, will take place on ice shorter than NHL-regulation size.