Weekend recap: Huge soccer win, new track records and Canada vs. Giannis
As you may have heard, Canada scored a pretty big soccer victory on Friday night. Here’s a look at that and some other important results from the weekend in international sports:
Soccer: Canada earned a rematch with Argentina at the Copa America
The Canadian men’s soccer team scored one of its most important victories ever on Friday night in Texas, defeating Venezuela 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw to advance to the semifinals of the Copa America.
Jacob “Maritime Messi” Shaffelburg scored early in the match for Canada and goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau atoned for a positioning gaffe that allowed Venezuela to tie it by making two saves in the shootout. Crepeau’s diving stop on his opponents’ final attempt set up Ismael Kone’s crowd-silencing winner as fans in the pro-Venezuela crowd at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium pointed lasers at his face to try to distract him.
The result wasn’t exactly shocking, as Canada is ranked 48th in the world to Venezuela’s 54th. But the surprising Vinotinto were the slight betting favourites after going a perfect 3-0-0 to win Group B while Canada went 1-1-1 to finish second in Group A.
Canada’s reward is a rematch with Lionel Messi’s World Cup champion Argentina on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET in New Jersey. The Canadians are big underdogs, but they gave the world’s top-ranked team real trouble in the tournament opener, falling 2-0 in a match that was up for grabs until the closing minutes. And Argentina nearly blew its quarterfinal on Thursday night, slipping past 30th-ranked Ecuador in a shootout after Messi clanked his opening attempt off the crossbar.
The semifinals of the European Championship also begin Tuesday, when new title favourite Spain faces France. The Spaniards defeated host Germany 2-1 in extra time on Friday while France ended Cristiano Ronaldo’s final Euro by beating Portugal in a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw.
On Wednesday it’s England vs. the Netherlands. The English got past Switzerland on penalties Saturday following a 1-1 draw while the Dutch defeated Turkey 2-1.
Basketball: Canada will face Giannis Antetokounmpo at the Olympics
The two-time NBA MVP led host Greece to victory in its last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament for one of the final four spots in the men’s event in Paris. Antetokounmpo scored 13 points in limited playing time Saturday as Greece held NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic to 21 points in a 96-68 semifinal rout. In the final against Croatia on Sunday, the Milwaukee Bucks star had a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Greece’s 80-69 win.
The victory earned Greece a spot in Group A at the Paris Olympics, alongside 2023 Basketball World Cup bronze medallist Canada, 2021 Olympic bronze medallist Australia and Spain, which won its qualifying tournament on Sunday. Brazil and Puerto Rico won theirs to fill out the other two groups in the 12-team Olympic tournament, which opens July 27.
Canada is expected to announce its Olympic roster this week and will face the United States in an exhibition game in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
Track and field: Records (and a decathlon star) fell at a Diamond League meet in Paris
On Sunday in the Olympic host city, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke the 37-year-old women’s high jump world record with a leap of 2.10 metres while Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon lowered her own world record in the women’s 1,500m with a time of 3:49.04.
Kipyegon will try for an Olympic 1,500m three-peat in Paris after winning her third world title in her signature event last year. She’ll also contend for gold in the 5,000m after capturing her first world title in that distance last summer. Mahuchikh is the reigning world champ in the high jump and took bronze at the 2021 Olympics.
Also on Sunday in Paris, Charles Philibert-Thiboutot set a new Canadian record in the men’s 3,000m, clocking 7:35.73 to finish fourth. The 3,000 is not in the Olympics, but Philibert-Thiboutot will race the 1,500 in Paris.
Canada’s Thomas Fafard finished sixth in the 3,000 on Sunday while Jean-Simon Desgagnes was ninth in the 3,000m steeplechase, which is part of the Olympics. Jerome Blake placed fifth in the men’s 200m. Blake was named to the Canadian Olympic team in the 4x100m relay, while Fafard will run the 5,000m and Desgagnes the steeplechase.
Decathlon world-record holder Kevin Mayer of France withdrew from the men’s “triathlon” (this decathlon-style variation featured the shot put, long jump and 110m hurdles) after crashing to the ground during the hurdles stage. Kenyan 800m star Emmanuel Wanyonyi, expected to challenge Canadian world champion Marco Arop for Olympic gold, lost for the first time this year, to Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati. Here’s more on the Paris Diamond League meet.
Andre De Grasse ran a not-so-great 10.07 seconds to finish third in a soft 100m field at the FBK Games in the Netherlands on Sunday. He’ll be back on the track Tuesday for the 200m at a World Athletics Continental Tour stop in Hungary. Canada’s Ethan Katzberg, the world champion in the men’s hammer throw, is also competing as he tries to stay undefeated in 2024. Watch the meet live from 11:30 a.m. ET to 1:30 p.m. ET on the CBC Sports app, CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
Other key Canadian results:
* Tour de France rookie Derek Gee placed third in stage 9 on Sunday to head into a rest day ranked ninth overall in the chase for the yellow jersey. The 26-year-old, who rides professionally for the Israel-Premier Tech team, will compete for Canada in two road cycling events at the Olympics: the men’s time trial and road race.
* The Canadian women’s 3×3 basketball team won all five of its games to take gold at a Women’s Series tournament in Edmonton. After playing its past few events with different lineups, top-ranked Canada had its core of Kacie Bosch, Paige Crozon and twin sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe back together as it prepares for a run at the Olympic podium.
* Artistic swimmers Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau won gold in the duet free event at their World Cup Super Final in Hungary and helped Canada earn a silver and two bronze medals in various team competitions. At the Olympics, the various disciplines are consolidated into just two events: duet and team. Canada could challenge for a medal in both.
* Canada’s top beach volleyball duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson lost in the quarterfinals of a Pro Tour Elite 16 event in Switzerland after going 3-0 in the preliminary stage. But they still climbed one spot to No. 3 in the world rankings as they look to contend for a medal in Paris.
