Olympic newsletter: Summer to the rescue and who to watch Sunday
CBC
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Summer McIntosh captured her first Olympic medal, and Canada's first of the Paris Games, while the Canadian men's basketball team won its opener on the first full day of competition in Paris. But those victories were somewhat overshadowed by a hefty punishment for the Canadian women's soccer team as the Dronegate scandal took another turn.
Let's get into the good stuff first, then the bad, before we look ahead to Sunday's action.
With Canadians reeling from this afternoon's news that the women's soccer team will be docked the equivalent of two wins in the Olympic tournament, McIntosh delivered a much-needed feel-good moment. The 17-year-old swimming sensation took silver in the star-studded women's 400-metre freestyle event for her first of what should be many Olympic medals.
World-record holder Ariarne Titmus of Australia defeated McIntosh by a relatively comfortable 0.88 seconds to repeat as Olympic champion in the eight-lap race, while American Katie Ledecky finished a distant third for the bronze — her 11th Olympic medal.
The heavily hyped "big three" battle turned into a two-way showdown as Ledecky struggled to keep up with Titmus and McIntosh. Those two were pretty much even at the halfway point before the Australian began pulling away.
McIntosh finished fourth in this event as a 14-year-old at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She's since won four world titles, and is now a threat to reach the podium in all four of her solo events in Paris. "We're literally just getting started," Mcintosh said after collecting her silver. "There's eight more days of racing to come and I cannot wait."
McIntosh had a chance to add a relay medal less than an hour after her silver swim, but her Canadian women's 4x100m freestyle team finished fourth with McIntosh and seven-time Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak swimming the final two legs. The Canadian men's 4x100m team finished sixth in their final. Here's more on today's swimming events.
Taking the Olympic court for the first time since Steve Nash led his team to the quarterfinals in 2000, the Canadian men held on to beat former NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece 86-79.
The Greek Freak scored a game-high 34 points, while Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, this year's MVP runner-up, scored 21 with a team-high seven assists. R.J. Barrett led Canada with 23 points. Jamal Murray, who saw limited action in Canada's exhibition games, came off the bench for eight points, including a pair of clutch free throws.
The Canadians led by 10 at the half before Greece carved its deficit to two with a minute left in the game on an Antetokounmpo dunk off a mid-court turnover. But Murray hit both his attempts from the foul line with 15 seconds remaining to put Canada up by five before Barrett sealed it with an emphatic breakaway dunk.
Canada has not won an Olympic basketball medal since its men's silver in 1936. But, loaded with NBA players, this team is considered one of the top podium contenders after winning bronze at last year's Basketball World Cup.
Canada's next game is Tuesday against Australia. The 2021 bronze medallists defeated Spain 92-80 today. Meanwhile, NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points to help host France beat Brazil 78-66.
U.S. flag-bearer LeBron James' team of NBA stars opens Sunday against Serbia, featuring reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. Here's more on today's basketball.
