Day 10 highlights
Canoe-Kayak
It was a good start for three-time medallist Adam van Koeverden at Eton Dorney Monday as the Oakville, ON native paddled his way into the K-1 1,000m final with confidence, winning both his heat and the semifinal. “I have a whole day to recover,” he said. “I’m in a good mood!” Team leader Mark Granger said van Koeverden’s composure contributed to his solid start. “(Adam) likes to open up with a good race. He is really calm and composed.” He will race for his fourth Olympic medal Wednesday at 4:30 a.m. EST.
Also at Eton Dorney Monday, Burlington ON’s Mark Oldershaw qualified for the gold medal canoe final in the C-1 1,000m, finishing second in both his heat and semifinal. “I felt really good,” said Oldershaw. The heat was a bit harder than I thought.” Oldershaw will battle for a medal Wednesday at 4:48 a.m. EST.
In the men’s K-2 1,000m partners Ryan Cochrane (Windsor, ON) and Hugues Fournel (Dorval, QC) will move into the B final Wednesday at 5:15 a.m. EST after their fifth-place performance in the semifinal Monday at Eton Dorney.
Athletics
Canadians got the checkmarks they needed in preliminary action on the track Monday, advancing into semifinal rounds.
Sarnia, ON’s Hilary Stellingwerff ran a 4:05.79 in her 1,500m heat for sixth spot and a spot on the semifinal start line. “I felt the Canadian love out there,” said Stellingwerff. “It was a battle. I’m relieved I got one down, now I’m going to get ready for next the round. Teammate Nicole Sifuentes (Winnipeg) clocked a 4:07.65 for her semifinal qualifying time. “I knew I needed to really kick it in the last 200m,” she said. “I’m really happy to get through.” The women will race again Wednesday, at 5:45 p.m.
In the men’s 800m, Geoff Harris of Halifax, NS ran a personal best time of 1:45.97 in his heat to finish fourth. “That was a nice comfortable race,” he said. “There’s definitely more there. I just want to keep it rolling.” Harris races the semifinal Tuesday at 2:55 p.m. EST.
All three Canadian 100m hurdlers advanced into the semifinal round, led by London, ON’s Jessica Zelinka who ran 12.75 for second-place in her heat after recovering from her seventh-place finish in the heptathlon. “I took the day off after the heptathlon, so this was my warm up to find my legs,” she said. Nikkita Holder of Pickering, ON ran a 12.93 for fifth place in her heat to advance. “It wasn’t my best race or start,” said Holder. “I will fine tune some things for the semifinal.” Teammate Phylicia George (Markham, ON) ran 12.83 in her heat and also moves into the semifinal. “I got out really well,” said George. “I can go a lot faster, it’s going to take 12.6x to make the final.” Semifinal rounds begin at 2:15 p.m. EST Tuesday.
In the evening portion Monday, Crystal Emmanuel (Scarborough, ON) ran a 23.10 in her 200m heat to qualify for the semifinal at 3:25 EST Tuesday.
Boxing
Windsor ON’s Mary Spencer saw her Olympic dream end Monday in the quarterfinal round of the 75kg class as the first-ever woman to step in an Olympic boxing ring and fight for Canada. In a close bout, Jinzi Li of China beat Spencer 17-14 in the four-round tilt. “The last three tournaments I have been upset,” said Spencer. “I knew it was going to be tough. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it was tougher than I thought.” Also Monday night at ExCel Simon Kean (Trois-Rivieres, QC) lost to Ivan Dychko of Kazakhstan in the 91+kg class 20-6 in the quarterfinal round. “I’m disappointed about the loss, but gave 100%,” said Kean.
Cycling
Tara Whitten (Edmonton, AB) put herself in fine position Tuesday in the women’s two-day omnium event at the velodrome. Whitten, who has consecutive World Championship and World Cup titles in the six-race event, rode to a fourth place spot heading into Day 2 Tuesday with 18 points. She will be racing for the podium beginning at 11:07 a.m.
Sailing
After eight races in the men’s 470 class at Weymouth and Portland, sailors Mike Leigh (Nanaimo, BC) and Luke Ramsay (Vancouver, BC) sit in 24th place. In the men’s 49er class, Hunter Lowden (Vancouver, BC) and Gordon Cook (Toronto, ON) finished the final preliminary race Monday in 16th place and will not advance to the medal race.
Equestrian
At Greenich Park Monday, Canadian equestrian icon and 10-time Olympian Ian Millar (Perth, ON) joined Eric Lamaze (Shomberg, ON) in advancing to the final round of the individual jumping event, Wednesday at 7 .m. In the team jumping event, the 2008 silver-medallist Canadians finished in fifth spot in the medal round.
Synchronized Swimming
Pier Boudreau-Gagnon (Rivier-du-Loup, QC) and Elise Marcotte (Ancienne-Lorette, QC) followed up a strong technical routine with a fourth-place performance in their free preliminary round Monday night. “Today, the girls did a perfect performance, their best swim ever for the free duet routine,” said coach Julie Sauve. “We are now looking toward the final tomorrow.” Their score of 94.750 gives the Quebec duo a total of 189.250 for an overall fourth-place position heading into the free routine final Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.
Diving
Both Alexandre Despatie (Laval, QC) and Francois Imbeau-Dulac (Saint-Lazare, QC) qualified for the semifinal round with ninth and 12th place performances Monday on the 3m individual springboard. Despatie finished the preliminary round with 458.55 points while Imbeau-Dulac had 449.30. The pair will compete in the semis at 2 p.m. EST.
