Day 8 Highlights
Deemed ‘Super Saturday’, the Canadian Olympic Team saw both its first gold medal and then complemented it with both a silver and bronze. Rosie MacLennon topped the podium in Trampoline, while Ryan Cochrane stepped up to silver in the men’s 1,500m freestyle swim and the women’s team pursuit track cycling team took bronze.
Badminton
In bronze medal action at Wimbledon courts the unsuspecting duo of Toronto’s Alexandra Bruce and Markham ON’s Michelle Li bowed out of Olympic competition to Russia’s Valeria Sorokina and Nina Vislova, losing 0-2. The result is Canada’s best-ever performance at a Games.
“It is definitely disappointing today we didn’t play our best,” said Bruce. “We didn’t have it today.”
Partner Li said after advancing into the quarterfinal on the disqualification of competing teams, emotions have been up and down.
“This whole tournament has been a roller coaster for me,” said Li. “We had really hard draws and lost our games which was a low, but then we had an opportunity again and we took advantage of it so that was such a high. We fought for every point but just didn’t have it today.”
Rowing
At Eaton Dorney Saturday, the lightweight doubles skulls pair of Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee, both of Victoria BC, rowed to a seventh place finish in the B final in a time of 7:17.24.
“It’s a real disappointment to not be in the A final when you’ve trained in a way that you really believe that you can be,” said Jennerich. “(But) we finished the regatta with a race we can be proud of.”
In other rowing action, Canada’s men’s four boat of Michael Wilkinson (Vancouver, BC), Anthony Jacob (Vancouver, BC), Will Dean (Kelowna, BC) and Derek O’Farrell (Unionville, ON) finished 9th overall. The men’s lightweight double boat of Doug Vandor (Dewittville, QC) and Morgan Jarvis (Winnipeg, Man.) finished 14th overall
Athletics
At Olympic Stadium Saturday, Justyn Warner (Markham, ON) started things well for the Canadian squad by setting a personal best in his 100m heat, clocking a 10.9 for third place and a spot in the semis. “The track is fast, blazing fast,” said Warner. “I have to have the race of my life to get into the final and that’s my plan.” He will get in the blocks again Sunday 2:45 p.m. EST.
In the final day of the women’s Heptathlon, Jessica Zelinka (London, ON) finished up in seventh spot with a score of 6480.
“It was hard going into it knowing I wasn’t going to win a medal,” said Zelinka. “I don’t know what to make of it? Five of the seven events were exactly what I wanted … that was just too many points to make up.”
Teammate Brianne Theisen finished in 11th with 6383 points.
“Top 10 was my goal so I’m happy,” said Theisen. “Physically I was prepared but mentally the Olympics are draining. I’m young, this was a great experience.”
On the 20km Race Walk course, Inaki Gomez of Vancouver set a new Canadian Record in the, finishing 13th overall with a time of 1:20:58.
Cam Levins of Black Creek, BC ran a 27:40.68 in the 10,000m final to finish 11th. Mohammed Ahmed placed in 18th
Diving
In semifinal action on the women’s 3m springboard, Emile Heymans (St-Lambert, QC) and Jennifer Abel (Laval, QC) both advanced to final rounds Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. Abel captured a total of 353.25 points for fourth spot Saturday, while teammate Heymans advanced with 331.35 points in eighth spot. The pair won Canada’s fist medal of the Games – a bronze in the 3m synchronized event.
Sailing
At Weymouth, Zac Plavsic had top-ten finishes in the men’s RS:X class in races 7 and 8. He sits in eighth spot before the last two qualifying races.
Equestrian
In Equestrian action Saturday Eric Lamaze, Ian Millar, Jill Henselwood and Tiffany Foster advanced to the second qualifier in Jumping. Lamaze was one of 32 athletes to score a clear round. Millar, Henselwood and Foster earned 42nd, 53rd and 60th places respectively.
