Olympic viewing guide: Defiant Canadian women's soccer team controls its own destiny
CBC
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The Canadian women's rugby sevens team won a surprising silver medal today, upsetting second-ranked Australia in the semifinals before giving No. 1 New Zealand all it could handle in the gold-medal match.
The fifth-ranked Canadians grabbed the lead right before halftime when Alysha Corrigan picked off a sloppy New Zealand offload and scampered in for a try. But the Kiwis answered quickly in the second half and scored again with two minutes left to win 19-12 and repeat as Olympic champions.
Canada's men's basketball team scored a big win too, beating 2021 bronze medallist Australia to help clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
Not everything went Canada's way. Swimmer Kylie Masse just missed her third consecutive Olympic medal in the women's 100m backstroke, placing fourth, while second-ranked judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard was eliminated before the medal bouts.
WATCH | CBC's Meg Roberts lets you know what to watch on Day 5:
Canada finished fifth in the women's gymnastics team final, matching its best-ever Olympic result. Simone Biles powered the United States to victory for her fifth Olympic gold — and possibly the sweetest after her stunning withdrawal from the 2021 final led to the Americans' losing the title.
Through four full days of competition in Paris, Canada has a well-balanced six medals: two gold, two silver and two bronze.
There will be a couple more medal chances on Day 5. But all eyes are on a must-win match for Canada's defiant women's soccer team. Let's start our daily viewing guide there.
Embattled, exhausted and left for dead in the wake of a devastating penalty for the drone-spying scheme involving members of their coaching staff, Canada's players found a lifeboat by deciding to just play for each other.
That was the core message in centre-back Vanessa Gilles' impassioned speech after she scored deep in injury time to give Canada a miraculous upset of host France on Sunday that kept the Olympic champions' playoff hopes alive.
Knowing that any result except a win would eliminate them from the tournament due to the six-point penalty issued by FIFA, Canada rallied from a 1-0 second-half deficit to beat the world's No. 2-ranked team on its home turf. Captain Jessie Fleming scored the equalizer before Gilles banked one in off the post in the 12th (!) minute of stoppage time for the improbable 2-1 victory.
"We haven't slept in the last three days. We haven't eaten. We've been crying," an emotional Gilles told a sideline interviewer. "What's given us energy is each other… our determination, our pride to prove people wrong, our pride to represent this country when all this s--- is coming out about our values.
"We're not cheaters. We're damn good players. We're a damn good team."
