PARIS – From Canada’s women’s soccer playing under a massive six-point penalty to a chance for more medals in the pool, here are five things to look out for at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28:
TRYING TO MOVE ON
Canada’s women’s soccer takes on host France in Saint-Étienne with its hopes of repeating as Olympic champions in serious doubt. FIFA stripped Canada of six points, the equivalent of two wins, as a result of the spying scandal that has cast a cloud over the start of the Games for Canada’s Olympic team. FIFA also banned head coach Bev Priestman and two other Canada staffers for one year and fined Canada Soccer 200,000 Swiss francs (C$313,000). The scandal erupted when two members of Canada’s staff were caught using a drone to film two New Zealand practices. Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 to open its tournament.
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DEFENDING CHAMPION
Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil looks to defend her Olympic title when she swims in the women’s 100-metre butterfly final. The 24-year-old from London, Ont., finished third in her semifinal on Saturday and tied for the fourth-best qualifying time. Canada is looking for more hardware in the pool after Toronto’s Summer McIntosh won silver in Saturday’s women’s 400-metre freestyle.
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DREAM TEAM 2024
The star-studded United States men’s basketball team plays its first game at the Paris Olympics when it takes on Serbia at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium near Lille. The Americans say they hope to have Kevin Durant in the lineup. He missed all of his team’s exhibition matches with a calf strain. Even if Durant can’t go, the U.S. will have a formidable lineup on display led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid. The Serbian roster includes Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
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SECOND SERVE
All of Canada’s tennis players are scheduled to be in action Sunday after rain washed out play on all of the outdoor courts at Roland Garros on Saturday. The affected matches included four featuring Canadians. Felix Auger-Aliassime’s men’s singles opener, women’s singles matches featuring Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu and a doubles match with Fernandez teaming with Gabriela Dabrowski are now part of a massive roster of matches scheduled for Sunday. They join Canadian veteran Milos Raonic, whose first-round match is still on the schedule despite the disruption.
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WELCOME TO THE MAT
Canadian judoka Kelly Deguchi makes her Olympic debut when she competes in the women’s under-52 kilogram event at the Champ-de-Mars Arena. Deguchi, who lives and trains in Japan, won silver in the event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Her sister Christa, who is the world’s top-ranked female judoka, makes her Olympic debut Monday in the under-57 kg category.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.