While the watching experience and timing for the 2024 Paris Olympics isn’t quite as challenging for Canadian viewers as it was for Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022, a good chunk of action during these Games happens when plenty of Canadians are fast asleep.
Whether you were crushing some zzz’s, busy at work, had family activities to partake in or just didn’t have a chance to tune in, we have you covered throughout these Olympics from start to finish, with Team Canada currently sitting at 16 medals.
Here’s what you may have missed on Day 9, including a bronze medal in men’s boxing, and Summer McIntosh missing a chance to make even more Canadian history.
Wyatt Sanford takes bronze in men’s 63.5kg boxing
Wyatt Sanford had his eyes on the gold medal, but the Nova Scotia native unfortunately settles for bronze after losing his semifinal fight against France’s Sofiane Oumiha 4-1.
Despite the semifinal loss, Sanford instantly becomes a bronze medallist due to the rules of Olympic boxing. Since there is no bronze-medal fight in the Olympics, the two fighters to lose in the semifinals become instant bronze medallists.
Sanford made his Olympic debut in Paris after winning gold at last year’s Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile — and boy, did he make his mark. The east-coast fighter becomes Canada’s first Olympic boxing medallist since 1996, when David Defiagbon won a heavyweight silver medal at the Summer Games in Atlanta.
While Canadians across the country are impressed with Sanford’s bronze-medal performance, the people in his hometown of Kennetcook, N.S., couldn’t be more proud.
Most Canadian Olympic athletes have community backing. In Wyatt Sanford’s case, it’s his entire village. Literally.
Tomorrow, most of the 473 people who live in Kennetcook, N.S. will gather in Findley Park again. To watch Wyatt try to punch his ticket into the gold medal bout: pic.twitter.com/LBPiRc4t1c
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) August 3, 2024
Congratulations to Wyatt Sanford and Team Canada on securing the bronze medal! A remarkable achievement and Canada’s first Olympic boxing medal in 28 years. 🥉🇨🇦
— Kashif Chaudhary (@kashifchudhari) August 4, 2024
Great job by Nova Scotia’s 🇨🇦 Wyatt Sanford in getting the🥉 in boxing. France’s Oumiha’s solid defense and pitty-pat-punching was enough to get the Frenchman the victory. Sanford will be a better pro, and his bronze represents Canada’s first boxing medal in 24 years. Woo!
— Edge O. Erin (@EdgeOErin1) August 4, 2024
Congratulations Wyatt Sanford🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦. An early morning bronze medal in boxing. We are proud of you.
— kkathypom54 (@kathypom54) August 4, 2024
Canadian men’s and women’s medley relay teams fall short of podium finishes
Summer McIntosh, who had a chance to win a Canadian record-setting fifth medal this afternoon at the 2024 Olympics, will have to settle for four medals as she and her teammates finished fourth in the 4×100-metre women’s medley relay.
The women’s medley relay team — which consisted of McIntosh, Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus and Maggie Mac Neil — came very close to sneaking into third place, finishing .68 seconds behind the People’s Republic of China, which won the bronze medal. The United States and Australia won gold and silver, respectively.
FOURTH FOR CANADA 🇨🇦
The Canadian women finish just off the podium. Fought until the end.
Canada finishes with eight medals in the pool at Paris 2024. What a performance by the team. pic.twitter.com/zPdFROvcfV
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
Also in the pool, the men’s 4×100-metre medley relay team missed out on a podium finish as well, finishing fifth in this afternoon’s final.
Despite the disappointing finish, the Canadian men had a very successful Olympic Games in the pool, finish with three medals among the group. Ilya Kharun led the charge with bronze in both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly, while Josh Liendo will take home a silver medal in the men’s 100-metre butterfly.
FIFTH FOR CANADA 🇨🇦
The Canadian men close out their Olympics with a fifth place finish in the medley relay.
Just off the national record. A very successful meet for the Canadian men who won three medals for Canada. pic.twitter.com/slAUtFwxYe
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024