PARIS – Summer McIntosh captured her first Olympic medal while FIFA sanctions made it improbable for Canada’s women’s soccer team to defend theirs on Saturday at the Paris Games.
McIntosh swam to silver in the women’s 400-metre freestyle at Paris La Defense Arena.
The 17-year-old phenom from Toronto finished in three minutes 58.37 seconds, behind reigning gold medallist Ariarne Titmus of Australia (3:57.49) but ahead of American legend Katie Ledecky (4:00.86) in a star-studded field.
McIntosh nearly won the first Olympic medal of her career in the 400 free as a 14-year-old three years ago in Tokyo, but placed fourth.
“It’s definitely pretty surreal. Going into tonight I really just wanted to put my best foot forward and race as hard as I could,” McIntosh said.
“An Olympics is always pretty nerve-racking and there’s a lot of anticipation going into each race, so (I’m) kind of learning how to deal with that and also trying to feed off the crowd.”
Earlier in the day, FIFA laid down the hammer on the Canadian women’s soccer team.
Soccer’s governing body hit the defending gold medallists with a six-point penalty because of a spying scandal that blew up after reports that a drone was used to record two closed practices conducted by New Zealand’s team.
Head coach Bev Priestman was also suspended from all soccer-related activity for a year, along with assistant Jasmine Mander and staffer Joseph Lombardi. All three had already been removed from the team and Priestman was already suspended by Canada Soccer.
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Canada Soccer was also fined 200,000 Swiss francs (C$313,000).
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FIFA judges found Priestman, who coached Canada to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games, and her two assistants “were each found responsible for offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer said they were “exploring rights of appeal” related to the point deduction.
“We feel terrible for the athletes on the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team who as far as we understand played no role in this matter,” said COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker.
Canada opened its Olympic tournament with a 2-1 win over New Zealand, but those three points are nullified by the sanctions. Canada will have to take a maximum of nine points to have any hope of advancing out of the preliminary round.
The Canadians next face host France on Sunday in Saint-Etienne.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., earned the chance to defend her gold medal in the pool, the Canadian men’s basketball team won its first Olympic game in decades and a first-time fencing Olympian beat a three-time defending champion.
Mac Neil qualified for the women’s 100 butterfly finals set for Sunday after tying for the fourth-fastest time in the semifinals.
The 24-year-old will try to become the first swimmer to win gold in the event at back-to-back Olympics.
Canadian swimmers fell short of the podium in the 4×100-metre freestyle relays.
McIntosh, Mac Neil, Toronto’s Penny Oleksiak and Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C., placed fourth in the women’s event. The Canadian team of Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., Calgary’s Yuri Kisil and Toronto’s Javier Acevedo and Josh Liendo finished sixth in the men’s relay.
Later in the day, RJ Barrett scored 23 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pitched in 21 as Canada defeated Greece 86-79 in Olympic men’s basketball action in Lille.
Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 34 points for Greece
“That’s why you have the word ‘team,'” Barrett said of Canada’s effort. “It’s not one guy. It’s all of us, all together. Everybody has their part to do. Playing Giannis is not an easy task.”
It was Canada’s first appearance at the Games since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The Canadian men next play No. 5 Australia on Tuesday.
Canadian fencer Fares Arfa defeated the three-time defending Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi in a stunning upset in men’s individual sabre, advancing to the round of 16, where he defeated France’s Bolade Apithy.
Szilagyi, the only male fencer to win three Olympic gold medals, was chasing a fourth notch on his belt.
“It’s really a shock. It’s like my opponent read me. I was an open book to him,” he said after the match.
“It happened so fast, and I’ve never thought that my individual competition here in Paris would be so short.”
Arfa, who is making his Olympic debut, was defeated in the quarterfinals by eventual gold medallist Oh Sang-Uk of South Korea.
Olivia Baril, of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., finished 20th in the women’s time trial — the first cycling event of the Games. The event was won by Grace Brown of Australia, who managed to stay astride her bike even as many of her competitors were thrown by the slippery wet pavement after hours of rain.
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who recently placed ninth overall in the Tour de France, finished 20th in the men’s time trial. Remco Evenepoel captured the gold medal, finishing ahead of Italian rival Filippo Ganna and Belgian countryman Wout van Aert.
Canadian pair Heather Bansley and Sophie Sokovec lost their first beach volleyball match of the Paris Olympics, dropping a 2-0 decision to Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.
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