Canadian Roundup: A record-setting weekend for Team Canada athletes
It was an extraordinary weekend for Team Canada athletes.
The first ever all-Canadian final on beach volleyball’s World Tour, a four-decade old national marathon record broken, and a historic world first in rugby highlight the results.
Here is what happened:
Beach Volleyball
Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson celebrate after winning gold at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Las Vegas Open 2018 Photo courtesy: FIVB
It was an all-Canadian final at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Las Vegas Open on Sunday. Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson came out on top 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-9) over Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan in the final game of the tournament. Bansley and Wilkerson won their first title in the 2018-19 World Tour season and have now stood on the podium in five of their last eight World Tour events. This season marks the beginning of Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020 as results count towards a world ranking list.
Rugby
It was an eventful weekend for Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team as they began their quest to qualify for Tokyo 2020. Team Canada finished third at the World Rugby Sevens Series in Glendale, Colorado, defeating France 28-0 in the bronze medal match on Sunday. The top four teams at the end of this season’s six World Series events will be the first to confirm their spots in Tokyo, though additional qualifying opportunities will follow.
The weekend was doubly exciting for Ghislaine Landry as she became the first women’s player to score 1000 career World Series points. The next women’s tournament is November 29-30 in Dubai.
Athletics
Cam Levins made his marathon debut extra special by breaking a Canadian record that had stood for 43 years. Levins smashed the 1975 mark of Jerome Drayton by 44 seconds, completing the 42.195km in downtown Toronto in 2 hours 9 minutes 25 seconds. More than 25,000 runners from 76 countries braved sub-zero wind chill temperatures during the race, which ended in the shadows of City Hall in Toronto.
Taekwondo
Winnipeg’s Skylar Park won 57kg bronze at the Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester over the weekend. Park now sits sixth in the Olympic qualification rankings for her weight class for Tokyo 2020.
Curling
Although it is not an Olympic event, congratulations are in order for Team Canada which won gold at the World Mixed Curling Championship on Saturday in Kelowna, BC. Canada, skipped by Mike Anderson, defeated Spain 6-2 in the final.
