Canada’s paddlers continued to shine at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, with three more boats advancing to their respective semifinals.
Connor Fitzpatrick qualified directly in the men’s canoe single 1,000-metre sprint event, while fellow Nova Scotia natives Michelle Russell and Riley Melanson made it through the quarterfinals in the women’s kayak single 500-metre sprint.
Dartmouth’s Fitzpatrick posted the second-fastest time in the fourth of five heats, clocking three minutes 50.79 seconds at Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
The 26-year-old, who was ninth-fastest overall among the field of 25, will compete for a shot at a medal on Friday at 5:30 a.m. ET. Fitzpatrick needs to finish within the top four in the first of two semifinal heats to reach Final A.
The semifinals will also feature the Czech Republic’s Martin Fuksa, who holds the world-best mark of 3:42.38 from 2018, and Romania’s Catalin Chirila, who set an Olympic best during the morning heats (3:44.75).
Fitzpatrick finished 14th in the event at the Tokyo Games in 2021. He is a two-time world champion in the mixed 500-metre event with Olympic bronze medallist Katie Vincent of Mississauga, Ont.
WATCH | How does canoe sprint work at the Olympics?
Not sure how canoe sprint is scored or set up at the Olympics? This quick explainer will get you up to speed.
Melanson, also from Dartmouth, and Fall River’s Russell advanced later Wednesday after placing within the top five of their respective quarterfinals. They were unable to secure direct semifinal berths earlier in the day.
Russell finished second in the opening quarterfinal heat with a time of 1:49.79, the fifth-fastest overall out of 20 kayakers, while Melanson took third spot in fourth and final heat in 1:50.16, good for sixth-fastest in the field.
The first-time Olympians will compete in the semifinals on Saturday at 4:30 a.m. ET, with the fastest two paddlers in each of the four heats moving on to the A final. Melanson will compete in the second semifinal before Russell takes the water with the final group.
WATCH | Full replay of Wednesday’s canoe and kayak races:
The Canoe Sprint event houses a multitude of Canadians. Michelle Russell and Riley Melanson go in the women’s kayak single 500m heats while Connor Fitzpatrick takes part in the men’s canoe single 1000m heats.
Canadians advance in track cycling as Americans secure 1st gold
In track cycling, Lauriane Genest of Levis, Que., and Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, Alta., advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s keirin by winning their repechage races.
Genest won bronze in the event at the Tokyo Games, while Mitchell, the reigning Olympic individual sprint champion, was fifth.
Successful, to be sure, but also disappointing, because it had never been the top step.
On a steamy Wednesday night at the Olympic velodrome, road race champion Kristen Faulkner, time trial bronze medallist Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente and Lilly Williams finally took that last step up. They soared to a big early lead on New Zealand in their head-to-head showdown, then held on through a ragged finish to finally win the gold medal at the Paris Games.
“We knew we had a strong team coming in,” Faulkner said with a smile, “and I feel like the lucky one, because they have won medals before on the track and I haven’t. I just wanted to live up to their expectations.”
Australia, U.S., Belgium, France advance to women’s basketball semis
Jade Melbourne scored 14 of her 18 points by halftime and Australia advanced to the Paris Olympics semifinals in women’s basketball by routing Serbia 85-67 on Wednesday.
The Opals had to win their group-play finale to reach the elimination round, and they got a bit of revenge by beating the country that stunned them in the quarterfinals at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Australia came into the Paris Games ranked third in the world, and the Opals are looking for their first Olympic medal since taking bronze at the 2012 London Games.
Their semifinal opponent Friday will be the U.S., an 88-74 winner over Nigeria. The Americans are the reigning Olympic champions and looking for an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold. The U.S. notched their 59th straight victory since the program’s last loss in the 1992 Barcelona Games, and now they move into the semifinal needing two more wins to do something no team has done in Olympic history.
Belgium reached its first semifinal in their second Olympic appearance, routing Spain 79-66 to advance. The Belgian team celebrated with fans by clapping three times and then a couple of players ran around the court celebrating the victory.
They will play France, which ended Germany’s Olympic debut 84-71, on Friday for the chance to play for gold.
Poland tops Americans to reach men’s volleyball final
Poland will play for a gold medal in men’s volleyball, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to beat the United States in the deciding fifth set of the Paris Olympics’ semifinals on Wednesday.
Poland came back from 20-18 in the third and needed two set points to force it to a deciding fifth, sending the largely pro-Poland crowd at South Paris Arena into a frenzy, with chants of “Polska!” and horns blaring throughout the stadium.
Led by Cuba native outside hitter Wilfredo Leon in the attack, Poland jumped out to an early lead in the fifth and left the Americans trying to play catch up the rest of the way.
A service ace by Max Holt pulled the Americans within 11-10. Leon’s spike out of bounds made it 14-13 before his successful point moments later sent the team onto the floor in celebration of the comeback.
Leon amassed a match-high 26 points to lead the 25-23, 25-27, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13 victory.
Marit Bouwmeester wins women’s dinghy gold
Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands won the gold medal in the women’s dinghy at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, marking the fourth straight Games in which she has reached the podium.
In the men’s dinghy race, Australia’s Matt Wearn won gold for the second straight Olympics. Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus won silver while Stefano Peschiera of Peru took bronze.
The medal races for both women and men had been postponed to Wednesday because of fickle and light winds.
The 36-year-old Bouwmeester won silver in this class of sailing in London in 2012, followed by gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo.
Bouwmeester’s victory was the Netherlands’ second sailing gold in these Games, following Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz in the women’s skiffs. Dutch windsurfer Luuc van Opzeeland won a bronze, making the country the leader in sailing medals so far.
Australia’s Palmer repeats as park skateboarding champion
Australia’s Keegan Palmer scored a 93.11 Wednesday to successfully defend his Olympic park skateboarding title at the Paris Games.
His performance wowed a crowd that included skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, Snoop Dogg and U.S. basketball star Devin Booker.
He’d already secured the gold medal before his final run and fell after also crashing on his second run. But his magnificent first run was all he needed to go home with another gold medal.
American Tom Schaar posted a 92.23 on his second run to win silver. He opened the finals with a 90.11 before completing more difficult tricks on his next go to secure second place.
Brazil’s Augusto Akio won bronze with a score of 91.85 on his final run. He entertained the crowd by juggling before the prelims and did another routine after the first round while holding his skateboard in his mouth.
He narrowly held off his teammate Pedro Barros, who scored 91.65 to finish fourth.
