Olympic newsletter: Women's soccer team does it, Summer goes for another gold
CBC
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Swimmer Ilya Kharun won Canada's seventh medal today, taking bronze in the men's 200-metre butterfly on Day 5 of the Paris Games. It's the first Olympic medal for the teenage son of Cirque du Soleil acrobats, and the first by a Canadian men's swimmer since 2012.
But the biggest Canadian victory came in women's soccer, where the embattled Olympic champs beat Colombia to qualify for the quarterfinals after new information emerged in the drone-spying scandal.
More on that first, followed by Canada's medal opportunities on Thursday — including Summer McIntosh's shot at her second gold.
WATCH | Rise and Stream sets you up for Day 6 at Paris 2024:
All but counted out after being docked two wins for their coaches' drone-spying shenanigans, the reigning Olympic champs defeated Colombia 1-0 to earn an improbable spot in the quarterfinals.
Vanessa Gilles played the hero again. After scoring deep in injury time Sunday to upset France in another must-win game, the attack-minded defender headed in captain Jessie Fleming's pinpoint free kick early in the second half. "It feels incredible," Gilles said. "When adversity and pressure come, we rely on each other."
WATCH l Gilles scores game-winning goal as Canada tops Colombia:
Canada won all three of its games in Group A. But, due to FIFA's six-point penalty for the spying scandal involving suspended head coach Bev Priestman and two members of her staff, the Canadians placed second behind France. They'll face Germany, the runner-up to the United States in Group B, on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Canada needed to beat the Colombians to advance after losing an appeal earlier today. Emails released by FIFA indicated that Priestman was aware of spying, which may have been a common practice within Canada's women's and men's national teams for some time.
Here they are in chronological order. The best one is last.
Race walk: Evan Dunfee in the men's 20K at 1:30 a.m. ET
Dunfee took bronze in the 50-kilometre walk at the Tokyo Olympics before his preferred distance was dropped from the Games. But he remains a contender in this shorter race after placing fourth at last year's world championships.
Dunfee will also compete in the marathon race walk mixed relay next week with Olivia Lundman.
