Weekend Roundup: Big win for Melissa & Brandie, big breakthrough for Audrey Leduc
Team Canada athletes produced many impressive performances over the weekend. Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson finally got the gold medal they wanted from one of beach volleyball’s biggest events. Audrey Leduc achieved a big career first on the Diamond League circuit. Plus, there were several near-podium finishes of which athletes can be very proud.
Here’s a quick look back at the action you might have missed.
Beach Volleyball: Melissa & Brandie win Elite16 in Ostrava
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson claimed the gold medal at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Ostrava, Czechia. They controlled the final match, defeating Dutch duo Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon 2-0 (21-16, 21-14). They had advanced to the final after getting past the Swiss team of Joana Mäder and Leona Kernen 2-1 in the semifinals.
“We finally won in Ostrava!! It’s our favourite tournament on tour. We had a bronze (2023) and a silver (2024) coming into this so we knew we wanted gold to finish the trifecta,” said Humana-Paredes. “Playing in Ostrava is always incredible because the crowd makes every game so special. They truly appreciate beach volleyball and we feel so loved.”
The Olympic silver medallists had a big win in the quarterfinals, defeating the reigning world champions from Latvia. It is their first Elite16 title since August 2025 when they were victorious in Montreal. It is their second Elite16 podium of the season, after finishing as the runners-up in Saquarema in April.
Athletics: First Diamond League podium for Leduc
Audrey Leduc sprinted to her first career Diamond League podium, finishing third in the women’s 200m in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday. She ran a season’s best time of 22.41 seconds to finish behind only Americans Cambrea Sturgis (22.21) and Kayla White (22.28). It is just the second Diamond League race that Leduc has run in her career.
Also in Rabat, Savannah Sutherland placed sixth in the women’s 400m hurdles. Andre De Grasse finished fifth in the men’s 200m while Aaron Brown placed eighth.
Damian Warner placed fourth in the decathlon at the prestigious Hypomeeting in Götzis, Austria over the weekend, accumulating 8497 points. The 36-year-old was in third place after the first nine events, but was just beaten out for a spot on the podium by Germany’s Niklas Kaul based on their times in the final event, the 1500m.
Warner is returning from an Achilles injury that forced him to withdraw from last year’s world championships.
Pierce LePage, also making a comeback from multiple injuries, completed his first decathlon since he won the world title in 2023. He finished 12th with 8117 points.
Hockey: Canada finishes fourth at men’s world championship
Despite a late rally, Canada lost 3-2 to Norway in the bronze medal game at the IIHF World Championship on Sunday, where an overtime goal killed the team’s chance for bronze. Forward Robert Thomas scored twice in the final minutes of regulation, scoring his second goal with just eight seconds remaining, to force the extra frame.
Canada appeared to have the momentum early in overtime, but Norway’s Noah Steen sniped the winner on an odd-man rush to win it.
Canada lost 4-2 to Finland on Saturday in the semifinals, putting them into the showdown for third place. Captain Macklin Celebrini was named the Best Forward of the tournament after finishing second in scoring with 14 points (six goals, eight assists).
READ: Canada to play for bronze after loss to Finland in world championship semis
Rowing: Canada just misses World Cup podium in quad sculls
Canada came close to the podium in the women’s quadruple sculls at the first World Rowing Cup of the year in Seville, Spain. The Canadian crew of Caroline De Paiva, Marilou Duvernay Tardif, Kristen Siermachesky, and Katie Clark finished in 6:35.91, just over four seconds behind Romania for third place. Germany won the quad sculls with a time of 6:30.15.
Two other Canadian boats competed in Seville. Alizee Brien and Avalon Wasteneys finished sixth in the B Final of the women’s double sculls to place 12th overall. That was also the result for the men’s four crew of Steven Rosts, Axel Ewashko, Curtis Ames, and Ryan Clegg.
Triathlon: Paquet finishes fifth in Italy, seconds off podium
Canadian triathlete Charles Paquet delivered another impressive performance, finishing fifth in the most recent stop of the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) in Alghero, Italy. The 28-year-old from Sept-Iles, Que., was just four seconds away from a podium finish with a time of 1:45:49. Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca won the event with a time of 1:45:16. This was the first WTCS event to count towards Olympic qualification rankings for LA 2028.
Paquet has good momentum this season. On April 25, Paquet stood on a WTCS podium for the first time in his career with a third-place finish in the WTCS opener in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Rugby SVNS: Canada finishes fourth in Spain
The Canadian women’s SVNS team finished fourth in the second leg of the Rugby SVNS World Championship in Valladolid, Spain. After going undefeated to finish atop their pool, they defeated Japan in the quarterfinals. But then they came up just short in the semifinal versus the United States, losing 14-12. That put them into the third-place game against New Zealand, who had won the first leg of the world championship in Hong Kong. The powerhouse Kiwi team defeated the Canadians 50-14.
Heading into the third and final leg of the world championship, which will take place this coming weekend in Bordeaux, France, Canada sits fifth in the standings behind Australia, New Zealand, USA, and France.
