Canadian roundup: record, trophy, medals & closing in on Rio
Feature photo: Andre De Grasse via Athletics Canada
Canadian athletes spent the weekend making the record books, standing on podiums, getting closer to an Olympic dream and bringing home an elusive trophy.
Athletics
Read: De Grasse breaks a national record and 10-second barrier
Andre De Grasse is a big international story the weekend, with two devastating runs over as many days. On Saturday, he lowered the national 200m record by .13 seconds to 20.03 and on Sunday, became the third Canadian ever to legally run the 100m under 10 seconds with a blistering 9.97 at an university meet in Los Angeles.
Andre De Grasse at Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
In Doha, long jumper Christabel Nettey picked up a Diamond League point finishing third in the women’s competition with a 6.93m leap, six centimetres shy of the winning jump.
Rugby
Read: Rugby Canada women second at London Sevens
The women’s sevens team were a few minutes from winning their first world series competition but Australia roared back to win the London event on Sunday. Nonetheless, Canada took 18 valuable points toward a historic Olympic qualification, which should be achieved next weekend in Amsterdam.
Ghislaine Landry at the 2015 London Sevens (Ian Muir/Rugby Canada).
The men’s sevens team finished ninth in London, regional rival United States won the tournament.
Canoe/Kayak
Read: Oldershaw, Vincent-Lapointe double the gold in Portugal
Mark Oldershaw in action at the 2015 ICF sprint World Cup in Portugal on May 17, 2015 (photo: Balint Vekassy/CanoeKayak Canada).
Mark Oldershaw and Laurence Vincent-Lapointe each won two gold medals for a total of nine for Canadian paddlers at the first ICF sprint world cup of the season.
Ice hockey
Read: Canada defeats Russia to win gold at men’s worlds
Canadian men accept the trophy at the 2015 IIHF World Championship.
The IIHF men’s world championship always falls during the NHL playoffs, robbing Canada of its best players. This year, Canada was able to put its strongest team together in years and went undefeated (10-0) through a 6-1 gold medal game victory over Russia, lifting their first World Championship trophy since 2007.
Volleyball
Read: Canadian volleyball finds weekend success on court and beach
Canadian men are off to a perfect start with a pair of FIVB World League wins over Cuba this weekend. They have six points to lead Pool C of the competition after the opening matches.
Jamie Broder, Kristina Valjas (right, in yellow) on the podium at Lucerne, Switzerland on May 17, 2015.
On the beach, Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas picked up their second World Tour medal of the season, this one in Switzerland.
Wrestling
At the Olympia Greece International, several Canadian wrestlers made the podium. Some of the results are posted on Wrestling Canada’s Twitter timeline.
