Weekend Roundup: Davis Cup domination and 3 Canadians on podium at Diamond League Final
The Olympic Games may have come and gone, but there were plenty of exciting performances by Team Canada athletes this past weekend.
Paris 2024 Olympians Sarah Mitton, Marco Arop and Alysha Newman all extended their seasons and all three ended up on the podium of track and field’s final hurrah of the year–the Diamond League Final in Brussels, Belgium. On the tennis court, Team Canada’s Davis Cup squad crushed the group phase of competition to earn a spot in the Final 8. Team Canada triathletes impressed at the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia, Spain, while Mike Woods worked his way to a top-10 finish on home soil at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
In cooler (temperature-wise) news, Florence Brunelle and William Dandjinou claimed national titles in short track speed skating, welcoming in the winter competition season.
Here’s what you need to know:
Athletics: Mitton ends Diamond League season with a bang
Sarah Mitton won the gold medal in the women’s shot put at the Diamond League Final. After not meeting her goal of reaching the podium at Paris 2024 amid unfortunate weather conditions, Mitton threw to a distance of 20.25m to earn the win. She was joined on the podium by American Chase Jackson (19.90m) and German Yemisi Ogunleye (19.72), who had won Olympic gold this summer.
This Diamond League Final victory also guarantees Mitton a spot at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Mitton is the reigning indoor world champion after taking silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Also competing in Brussels were Paris 2024 medallists Marco Arop and Alysha Newman. In the men’s 800m, Olympic silver medallist Arop finished third in 1:43.25 to place behind Kenyan Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi (1:42.70) and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati (1:42.86).
Newman, who took bronze at Paris 2024, snagged bronze once more at the Diamond League Final. She cleared 4.80m to claim her spot on the podium. The gold medal went to Australia’s Olympic champion Nina Kennedy, who cleared 4.88m, with silver going to American Sandi Morris, who also cleared 4.80m, but in fewer attempts than Newman.
Tennis: Team Canada gets ticket to Davis Cup Final 8
The team composed of Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Vasek Pospisil, Alexis Galarneau and Gabriel Diallo — who had made history by winning the Davis Cup in 2022 — dominated their group in the first phase of this year’s Finals. Led by Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime — who didn’t lose any of their singles matches — Team Canada topped Group D in Manchester, England, finishing above Argentina, Great Britain, and Finland.
After disposing of Argentina 2-1, Canada got the opportunity to take a measure of revenge against Finland, who had eliminated them in last year’s quarterfinals. They did so in spectacular fashion, winning all three matches of the tie.
The Canadians booked their ticket to the Final 8 with Shapovalov’s straight sets victory (6-0, 7-5) over Great Britain’s Daniel Evans on Sunday. But that was just the precursor for perhaps the most exciting match of the weekend when Auger-Aliassime defeated US Open semifinalist Jack Draper 7-6 (10-8), 7-5.
READ: Canada beats host Brits at Davis Cup to advance to quarterfinal round
The Davis Cup Final 8 will take place November 19-24 in Malaga, Spain.
Short Track Speed Skating: Brunelle and Dandjinou claim national titles
Canada crowned its top short track speed skaters at the Canadian Short Track Championships in Montreal this weekend.
Florence Brunelle finished first in four of the six women’s races to claim her first national title. On the men’s side, after Steven Dubois started the competition with wins in the first 500m and first 1500m, William Dandjinou came back to win his second straight national title, taking top spot in the second 1000m on Sunday for his third victory of the weekend and first place overall.
Danaé Blais and Kim Boutin rounded out the podium behind Brunelle. Courtney Sarault had been unable to defend her national title after suffering a concussion during training. Joining Dandjinou and Dubois on the men’s podium was Jordan Pierre-Gilles.
READ: Brunelle and Dandjinou crowned national champions in short track
The results from the Canadian Short Track Championships will be used to help select the skaters who will represent Canada internationally for the first half of the season, including on the new ISU Short Track World Tour which begins October 25-27 in Montreal.
Triathlon: Donnelly impresses with top 10 finish at World Triathlon Cup
Liam Donnelly turned heads on Saturday with his personal best eighth-place finish at the World Triathlon Cup in Valencia, Spain. The 25-year-old finished the sprint distance race in a time of 50 minutes and 14 seconds, finishing just nine seconds back of a podium position.
Donnelly had the seventh-fastest time in the five-kilometre run to propel himself into the top 10. Daniel Damian finished not too far behind his countrymate in 14th place. On the women’s side, Team Canada’s Emy Legault placed 11th.
Road Cycling: Woods rides to eighth place finish at Montreal Grand Prix
Ottawa’s Michael Woods placed eighth at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, two weeks after claiming a stage victory during the third Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España. The Canadian road race champion had made no secret of his desire to win on home soil, but had to settle for matching his career-best result at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
There is one more major event on the horizon for Canada’s top road cyclists. The UCI Road World Championships will take place September 21-29 in Zurich, Switzerland.
