Team Canada did the country proud at the Paris Olympiad as our Olympians claimed 27 overall medals for Canada's best performance at a summer Games. The nine gold, seven silver and 11 bronze, ranked Canada 12th among the participating nations. There were several firsts, some longstanding medal droughts ended as well as the outstanding performance of Toronto’s 17-year-old swimming phenom, Summer McIntosh with a four-medal performance.
Here are the accomplishments of the athletes who made podium appearances.
GOLD
Summer McIntosh started off her medal haul with a silver in the 400m freestyle on the opening day of Paris 2024 for her first career Olympic medal. Following that McIntosh was a golden girl in a trio of events. She was tapped he flag bearer along with fellow gold medalistEthan Katzberg for the closing ceremonies.
Her first gold came in dominating style in the 400m individual medley. With each stroke McIntosh pulled away from the field, finishing 5.69 seconds faster than the silver medalist Katie Grimes of the United States. Butterfly, to the backstroke, followed by the breaststroke and finishing with the freestyle, McIntosh left the others in her wake.
McIntosh put an exclamation point on her next gold medal performance in the 200m butterfly event as she set a new Olympic record with a time of 2:03.03. That was Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in that event. That also made the 17-year-old the first Canadian woman to win two gold medals in individual events at the summer games, but she wasn’t finished collecting the hardware.
In the 200m individual medley, McIntosh posted another Olympic record time on her way to her third gold medal. She touched the wall at a time of 2:06.56. That gold medal made McIntosh the first Canadian athlete to win three gold medals in one Olympic Games. She also is now tied Penny Oleksiak for the most medals won by a Canadian athlete at one Olympic Summer Games
Christa Deguchi made Olympic history for Canada as the world ranked number one was golden in Paris in the women’s 57kg judo event and that made the 28-year-old Canada’s first Olympic champion in judo. Deguchi won over the world number three from South Korea, Huh Mimi in the final that went into sudden death (golden time). Both combatants had two penalties after Deguchi took one early in the extra session. One more infraction would end the match, and it was the South Korean who fouled out after receiving a penalty for a false attack.
Deguchi was born and raised in Japan but made the move to compete for Canada, her father’s birth country, in 2017. She has since become Canada’s most decorated female judoka. She has won bronze in the 57kg category at the 2018 IJF World Judo Championships. In 2019 Deguchi became Canada’s first-ever world champion in the sport, she added the title again in 2023 and at the 2024 Worlds Deguchi
Ethan Katzberg entered the Paris Games as a medal favourite in the men’s hammer throw and it was mission accomplished for the former basketball player, winning gold with a 84.12m throw.
Katzberg made the golden toss on his very first attempt. His second attempt of 82.28m outdistanced the silver medalist, Bence Halasz of Hungary who threw 79.97m. It has been 112 years since Canada last won a medal in the hammer throw at an Olympic Games. He was selected , along with Summer McIntosh, to be the flag-bearer for the closing ceremonies.
Camryn Rogers joined Katzberg on the top of the podium as she took the gold in the women’s hammer throw. Rogers threw the winning distance of 76.97m on her fifth attempt. The win made Rogers Canada’s first ever Olympic medalist in the event. The dual golds puts Canada with Poland as the only countries to win both the men’s and women’s hammer throw gold medals at the same Olympic Games. She was introduced to track and field in January 2012 and entered her first competition that April. Rogers fell in love with hammer throw the moment she first picked one up and competed with it in June 2012.
Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney, and Andre De Grasse won an improbable gold in the men’s 4x100m relay final running out of the ninth lane.
Following an awkward first exchange between Brown and Blake, the next two exchanges were clean setting up anchor De Grasse. The veteran ran an impressive 8.89 seconds on determination, heart and an injured hamstring to secure the first-place finish. The Canadian quartet clocked in with a 37.50 time to beat South Africa and Great Britain. That medal gave De Grasse seven career Olympic medals, which ties him with swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canada’s all-time most decorated Olympian. This quartet is on the Olympic podium for the second straight Games after winning silver at Tokyo 2020. De Grasse, Rodney and Brown had previously won bronze at Rio 2016.
Vancouver’s Philip Kim, better known as Phil Wizard won gold in the Olympic debut of breaking at the Paris Olympics because nobody beats “The Wiz”. He added another historic moment to not only Canadian sports’ history but Olympic Games lore as he earned the inaugural gold medal for the discipline. In a thrilling battle on the stage at La Concorde, The 27-year-old Canadian b-boy took had a mic drop performance over the host country favourite Dany Dann in the final. On the stage at La Concorde, Wizard got 24 of 27 nods over three rounds as his free styling moves thrilled the crowd. Kim started breaking in 2009 under the mentorship of the Now or Never and Soul Felons crews.
Katie Vincent added her name to the list of Canadians who have made history in Paris. Vincent’s gold in the C-1 200m, the third Olympic medal of her career and second in as many days. She did it in style as set a new world best time in the distance crossing the finish line with a time of 44.12 seconds. Vincent The historic aspect was it was Canada’s first ever Olympic gold medal in any women’s canoe or kayak event. The 27-year-old Mississauga native’s gold also helped Canada to top gold and total medals to make it the most successful non-boycotted summer Olympics.
SILVER
Team Canada’s Olympic silver medal in women’s rugby sevens is the nation’s best-ever result in the event. Canada had the top team, New Zealand, sweating it out as the Black Ferns rallied to take the gold by a 19-12 score. Canada played gutsy, gritty rugby upsetting the host France squad and Team Australia. It looked as if the defending champions from the Tokyo Games would cruise to the win after Risi Pouri-Lane scored a try and convert before the game was two minutes old. Canada responded with their opponents serving a penalty. Chloe Daniels scored Canada’s first try and converted to knot the score at 7-7. On the final play of the half, Alysha Corrigan made an interception and ran it in for another try. The convert try was no good, but Canada owned a 12-7 lead heading into the break. New Zealand struck early when play resumed with a converted try to pull ahead 14-12. Canada pressed but were unable to crack the Kiwis’ defence. With just over a minute to play New Zealand added an insurance try to close out the game and successfully defend their Olympic title.
The Canadian women’s eight rowed to silver in Paris, reaching the Olympic podium in the event for the second straight Games.
The crew of Jessica Sevick, Caileigh Filmer, Maya Meschkuleit, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys, Sydney Payne, Kristina Walker, Abby Dent, Kristen Kit completed the 2000m course at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in 5:58.84 to finish second behind a powerful Romanian boat. Canada held off Great Britain for second place by 0.67 of a second.
Josh Liendo won silver in the men’s 100m butterfly with a time of 49.99. Liendo hit the 50m in second place and maintained a sufficient pace through the final 50m to stand second on the podium. Liendo learned to swim at the age of three for water safety and by the age of 10, he started to swim competitively. Liendo is the first Black Canadian swimmer to win a gold medal and an individual medal at a major international championship.
Team Canada Opening Ceremony flag bearer Maude Charron won her second straight Olympic medal, earning silver in women’s 59kg weightlifting at the Paris Olympics. Charron was the Olympic gold medalist in the 64kg event in Tokyo. With that weight class removed from the Olympic program, she had to drop down five kilos to compete in the 2024 Games. She lifted an overall total of 236kg to claim the silver.
Life’s a beach for Team Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson as they made Canadian Olympic history by winning the nation’s first silver in beach volleyball. The gold medal match went to three sets as the Canadians were edged by the top-ranked Brazilian tandem of Ana Patrícia Silva Ramos and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa. Canada put up a solid effort extending the opening set battling back and forth before dropping a 26-24 decision. Set two the Canadian duo handled their opponents to force a third set after taking the second set by a 21-12 score. The third and deciding set saw Brazil take charge to claim the gold with a 15-10 win. The medal is Canada’s first in women’s beach volleyball at an Olympic Games and the country’s second ever in the sport.
Marco Arop made a huge move from his first Olympics in Tokyo where he finished 14th, to the second step of the podium in Paris with a silver medal performance in the 800m final. The 25-year-old Edmontonian ran 1:41.20 eclipsing his former personal best time 1:42.85. He was eclipsed for the gold by Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyoni who broke the plane with a time of 1:41.19, besting Arop by 1/100th of a second in the tightest finish for the event at the Olympics. It has been a sprint of a journey for the 25-year-old Arop as he ran some track in elementary and junior high school but didn’t get serious about competing until his final year of high school when he was 17.
BRONZE
Alysha Newman’s bulldogged determination saw the 30-year-old’s comeback from a serious ankle injury at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championship culminate with a bronze medal performance in the pole vault at the Paris Games. Newman, competing in her third Olympics, cleared 4.85m to snag the spot on the podium, setting a new Canadian record besting her own standard of 4.82m. The podium appearance made her Canada’s first pole vault medalist in 112 years. Newman dreamed of representing Canada as a gymnast, Unfortunately, an injury forced her to take a year away from the sport, then decided to retire from gymnastics. Newman’s mother signed her up for track and field following her recovery. After breaking records in her first few pole vault meets, her dream to represent Canada returned.
There was plenty of cheering at the Pointe Claire Aquatic Centre as Pointe Claire native and dive team member Nathan Zsombor Murray and his partner Rylan Wiens of Saskatoon claimed Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in the men’s synchronized 10m platform event. The tandem’s score of 422.13 earned them the bronze medal. Wiens and Zsombor-Murray previously made history when they won bronze at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. That was Canada’s first ever world championship medal in the men’s 10m synchro event.
Zsombor-Murray started taking diving lessons at the Pointe Claire pool at the age of five and had a natural knack for the discipline. Zsombor-Murray was just 14 years old when made his international debut for Canada at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. He finished fifth there in the mixed 10m synchro with Meaghan Benfeito.He made his Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020 competing in the individual 10m event and with fellow Pointe Claire diver Vincent Riendeau in the 10m synchro event.Wiens started diving at age six at summer camp and won his first junior nationals at age 10.He battled through a neck injury in 2023 to make the Paris Olympic team to be able to compete with Zsombor-Murray.
Ilya Kharun became the first Canadian man to win an Olympic medal in swimming since the 2012 London Games. The 19-year-old won bronze in the men’s 200m butterfly for Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in the event. He finished in 1:52.80, shaving a second off his Canadian record.
Kharun was also part of Canada’s first double podium of the Paris Games as he won bronze in the 100m butterfly with a time of 50.45 while his teammate Josh Liendo took the silver slot with a time of 49.99.
Kharun has been on the rise since making his international debut at the short course World Swimming Championships (25m) in 2022 where he won silver in the 100m butterfly. In his first appearance at the World Aquatics Championships in 2023, he finished fourth in the 200m butterfly, which is where he had set his previous national record.
Sophiane Méthot wasn’t just jumping for joy in her Olympic debut, she jumped her way to the bronze medal in the women’s trampoline event in Paris.
The Longueuil native claimed the eighth and final spot in the medal round during the qualification segment. Méthot was in the zone in her final performance, staying centered on the trampoline bed while cleanly executing all her skills. She had the best horizontal displacement score of all the finalists and tied for the highest difficulty score. Méthot totalled 55.650 points, good enough for third spot on the podium. She was inspired to try gymnastics at age eight after seeing the movie Stick It.
Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Ottawa’s Gaby Dabrowski won a historic Olympic bronze medal for Canada at Stade Roland-Garros, the first medal in the mixed doubles category.
The duo won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (2) over Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands in the bronze medal match.
Kylie Masse focused effort saw her earn bronze in the women’s 200m backstroke. She touched the wall in a time of 2:05.57 to finish third behind Australian Kaylee McKeown and American Regan Smith.
Masse went out hard from the start but was in fourth on the final lap. The veteran found another gear and held on to third clocking in 0.04 seconds ahead of the fourth-place competitor. The bronze was Masse’s second straight Olympic medal in the event, having been the silver medalist at Tokyo 2020. She is now the first Canadian swimmer to win an individual medal at three Olympic Games. She started swimming competitively at age 10 following a summer swim team program with her siblings. That led her to join her local competitive team.
Nova Scotia’s Wyatt Sanford stood third on the podium claiming the bronze medal in a semifinal loss in the 63.5kg boxing event. The 25-year-old boxer, taking part in his second Olympics, lost 4-1 in a split decision to Sofiane Oumiha of the host nation. Sanford’s success ended a 28-year drought in medals in the sweet science, back to the 1996 Atlanta Games. He started boxing at age 10 joining a friend who wanted to try a new sport at the boxing club. Sanford had his first fight at the age of 11 and has been hooked on the sport ever since.
Skylar Park battled for Canada’s first Olympic medal in taekwondo in 16 years after fighting her way through the repechage to win bronze in the women’s 57kg event. The 25-year-old from Winnipeg opened with a win over Czechia’s Dominika Hronova in the Round of 16. She was upset in the quarterfinals by South Korea’s Kim Yujin, who won her semifinal to get into the gold medal bout, relegating Park into a repechage. Park bested Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkey to advance to the bronze medal bout against Laeticis Aoun of Lebanon. Park took that match for the medal. Park has been doing taekwondo since she was two, getting started at the dojang run by her family. Her father (who is also her coach) and grandfather are both taekwondo Masters and 16 family members are black belts, including her two younger brothers, mother, father, grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Eleanor Harvey became Canada’s first-ever Olympic medalist in fencing at the Paris Olympics. The 29-year-old won the bronze medal in the women’s individual foil event by defeating Italy’s Alice Volpi 15-12 in the third-place match. It was an upset victory as Volpi is the fourth-ranked women’s foil fencer in the world, while Harvey came into the Games ranked 14th. At the age of 10, Harvey wanted to be an Olympian in something, and a friend recommended fencing. She had a knack for it from the start and that let her know she could eventually compete for Canada.
Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie paddled their way to the podium as they won bronze in the has paddled toC-2 500m canoe sprint in a photo finish. The Canadian duo clocked in with a time of 1:54.36, a miniscule 0.06 of a second out of the silver spot. Edged out by Ukraine. MacKenzie and Vincent did a good job chasing the lead team from China but the Ukrainian duo made a charge in the final 100 metres. Lyudmila Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok roared from sixth place to a photo finish to finish second.
