Cealy Tetley Photo
29 octobre 2023
More Canadian athletes continued to qualify for Paris 2024 during Day 9 of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Canada won 10 medals during the day in equestrian sports, canoeing and judo.
Here are the highlights of the day:
Equestrian sports: Canada wins gold and qualifies for Paris 2024
Canada won gold in the equestrian eventing team event on Saturday, qualifying a team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after sending just one athlete to Tokyo 2020.
Canada qualified for the equestrian eventing team event at Paris 2024 after qualifying just one athlete at Tokyo 2020. Photo by Miguel Campos/Santiago 2023 via Photosport Canada qualified for the equestrian eventing team event at Paris 2024 after qualifying only one athlete at Tokyo 2020. Photo by Miguel Campos/Santiago 2023 via Photosport
Colleen Loach (Fe Golden Eye), the only Canadian present at this event two years ago, played a crucial role on the Pan American team. She was accompanied by Lindsay Traisnel (Bacyrouge), Karl Slezak (Hot Bobo) and Michael Winter (El Mundo), who also obtained their ticket to the Games.
“Olympic qualification was our ultimate goal this week and we achieved it,” said Slezak. We can now celebrate! »
Canada began the competition by placing second in dressage. Following the second event, cross-country, the team ranked third behind the United States, who had already secured their ticket to Paris 2024, and Brazil.
The Canadians still managed to beat both teams thanks to superb performances during the aerials competition. Led by Traisnel, who won bronze in this individual event, Canada finished with a score of 115.6, giving them the victory by 0.1 over the United States. Slezak, Winter and Loach respectively took 4th, 5th and 6th places in the individual rankings.
“It wasn’t really planned. We did our best and the results followed! We are so proud of the team, we work so well together and I am happy to be part of this group, explained Traisnel after winning gold. The Olympic qualification was the most important part of our journey and we are happy to have succeeded. »
TO READ: Follow Canada’s qualifiers for Paris 2024 at Santiago 2023
Canoeing: A productive day for Canada on Aconcagua
Canadian athletes won five medals in the canoe-kayak events presented during Day 9 on the Rio Aconcagua in the heart of the Andes mountain range.
Lois Betteridge started the campaign by obtaining silver in the women’s C-1 event. After passing the first six gates without problem, she had difficulty passing the seventh as well as the 17th and 18th, costing her her chances of a gold medal. The Brazilian Ana Atila won the competition for a third consecutive edition while Ana Paula Fernandes Castro settled for bronze.
“It was definitely a tough ride,” Betteridge said after her performance. There weren’t many rapids, so you had to really pull hard to do certain moves, so I gave it my all today. I’m really happy, this is my second silver medal at the Pan American Games… It would have been better to finish first, but Ana is one of the best in the world, so it’s quite exciting to finish behind her. »
Betteridge added another silver medal to her collection later in the day in the canoe cross event. His other silver medal was previously won in C-1 at Lima 2019.
In the men’s canoe-cross event, Alex Baldoni also collected silver, adding a second medal to his record, after winning silver in C-1 at the 2023 Pan American Championships.
“I feel pretty good,” Baldoni said after the race. I didn’t have my best start on the launch pad, but it was pretty close with [Guilherme Marcello] Mapelli. We had a good battle and I’m very happy with my silver medal. »
Maël Rivard won the bronze medal in men’s K-1 in a very close race, just ahead of the Chilean Andraz Echeverria Olguin.
After finishing fourth in the time trial, his qualifying heat and his semifinal, Rivard found his stride in the final, gaining a position for his first Pan American Games medal and finishing behind Pedro Goncalves of Brazil and Joshua Joseph from the United States.
“It was a very demanding race,” revealed Rivard. It was cold and the course was quite difficult. It’s not deep here. I tried everything and it worked. »
Léa Baldoni completed the Canadian harvest with bronze in women’s K-1, her very first medal at the senior level. She previously stood on the podium at the U23 World Championships and the Pan American Championships.
“I had to fight until the very end,” Baldoni said. I had the third fastest time today, so I’m both happy and tired, but I’m happy to have brought a medal back to Canada. »
Judo: Canadian judokas excel
Canadian judokas earned three medals on Day 9, bringing their total to four so far.
Isabelle Harris won silver in the 63kg category, losing to Maylin del Toro Carvajal of Cuba in the final after defeating Prisca Guadalupe of Mexico in the quarterfinal and Beijing 2008 bronze medalist Ketleyn Quadros, in the semi-final.
“I wish I could have gone all the way and gotten gold, but I’m proud of the process because I had some tough matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals,” Harris said at the end of the match. the day. I’m proud of my fights, but a little disappointed not to get gold. »
For his part, Antoine Bouchard won bronze in the 73 kg category, his second medal at the Pan American Games after winning silver at Toronto 2015.
“That was the ultimate goal this year,” explained Bouchard after obtaining his medal. Last April, I set myself the goal of qualifying and winning a medal at the Pan American Games. All the decisions I made over the last few months were based on this goal, so I am extremely happy with my performance. »
David Popovici ended the day by beating Cuban Maikel Londres McKenzie in the 81 kg category for the bronze medal.
“I’m really happy to have been able to participate in the Pan American Games and to have won a medal,” Popovici described after his last fight. It was a great experience. I have been giving my all for a very long time to win a medal. Everything I did in training allowed me to leave with a medal around my neck. »
Field hockey: Canadian men’s team advances to semi-finals
The Canadian men’s field hockey team concluded the preliminary round with a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago, securing first place in their group with a perfect record of three wins and no losses, for advance to the semi-final.
The Canadian men’s field hockey team completed the preliminary round with a perfect record thanks to a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Alejandro Pagni/Santiago 2023 via PhotosportThe Canadian men’s field hockey team completed the preliminary round with a perfect record thanks to a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Alejandro Pagni/Santiago 2023 via PhotosportThe Canadian men’s field hockey team completed the preliminary round with a perfect record thanks to a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Alejandro Pagni/Santiago 2023 via Photosport
Matthew Sarmento opened the scoring for Canada after 8:56 of play before Sean Michael David doubled his team’s lead with just six seconds left in the first half. Gordon Johnston and James Kirkpatrick added two more goals in the second half to secure Canada’s victory.
“At the start of the tournament, we wanted to see progression in each match in the preliminary round. I think we accomplished that, said head coach Patrick Tshutshani. We are now starting the second part of the tournament. There is always room for improvement and we want to play faster.
Canada risks facing Chile in the semi-final as it attempts to qualify for the gold medal and hope to do better than its silver medal obtained at Lima 2019. The winner of the tournament will be will qualify for Paris 2024.
Other results from Canada:
In tennis, Rebecca Marino lost to Argentina’s Julia Riera in the bronze medal match. The women’s softball team, which won bronze at Tokyo 2020, began its tournament with a 4-point win to 0 against Cuba In table tennis, Eugene Wang and Mo Zhang advanced to the semifinals in the mixed doubles tournament by defeating Marcelo Aguirre and Lucero Ovelar of Paraguay in the quarterfinals.
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2023-10-29 23:18:46
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