Paris 2024 marked a significant moment for gender equity in the Olympic movement. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, an equal number of quota spots were available for men and women, making them the first Games to achieve gender parity.

As we celebrate progress in gender equity, it is important to acknowledge the tireless work that it has taken to get to this point, and some significant pushback that women’s sport has encountered along the way. 

And the work is far from over. Women remain underrepresented in many other areas of the Games, including but not limited to, coaches, officials, and media. The Olympic Winter Games have yet to achieve gender parity for athletes, though Milano Cortina 2026 is set to be the most gender-balanced Games yet with 47 per cent of quota spots allocated to women.

In the spirit of remembering the efforts of the past as we continue to push towards the future, below is a list acknowledging the Olympic sports for which there was a gender gap in the inclusion of women’s competition versus men’s. 

Paris 1900: Only men competed at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. Four years later, at Paris 1900, 22 women competed, compared to 975 men. There were women’s events in tennis and golf, and women competed alongside men in croquet and sailing.

St. Louis 1904: Women’s archery debuts at the Games. Men’s archery had debuted four years earlier, at Paris 1900.

Stockholm 1912: Women’s swimming makes its Olympic debut, although women are only allowed to compete in two events, versus the seven available for men, who had been competing in Olympic swimming since 1896, marking a 16 year gender gap. Swimming was the first “major” Olympic sport to include women. Stockholm 1912 also marked the debut of women’s diving, which had been open to men for eight years, since St. Louis 1904.

Paris 1924: Women’s fencing debuts at the Olympic Games, 28 years after men’s fencing. At this time, women only had one event available to them, while men had six. 

Amsterdam 1928: Women’s athletics and artistic gymnastics make their Olympic debuts. Men’s competition for both sports had existed since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, marking a gender gap of 32 years. 

There were only five women’s athletics events available for women, compared to the 22 available for men. There was only one women’s artistic gymnastics team event, while men had a team event as well as six individual events.

One of the women’s athletics events at Amsterdam 1928 was the 800m. In direct contradiction to what transpired on the track, media reported afterwards that several women collapsed and others could not finish the 800m race. This account gained traction despite photographic and video evidence showing that all nine women completed the race and that a couple of them laid down on the track after a world-record effort (as was common for male athletes to do). The IOC and IAAF proceeded to bar women from competing in races longer than 200m for over 30 years under the patronising guise of “protecting” women from themselves. 

London 1948: Women’s kayaking debuts at the Olympic Games. Only one event is available to women, while men had the opportunity to compete in two kayak events as well as two canoe events (which women would wait seven more decades to compete in, more on that below). Men’s paddling had been part of the Olympic program since 1936, marking a gender gap of 12 years.

Oslo 1952: Women’s cross-country skiing debuts at the Olympic Games. Men had competed in cross-country skiing since the inaugural Olympic Winter Games in 1924, marking a gender gap of 28 years.

Helsinki 1952: Women are allowed to compete in Olympic equestrian events for the first time, 52 years after men began competing in equestrian at Paris 1900. At these Games, women were limited to competing only in dressage. Four years later, they would be allowed to compete in jumping and then finally eventing at Tokyo 1964.

Squaw Valley 1960: Women’s speed skating makes its official Olympic debut, 36 years after men’s speed skating was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games. 

Mexico City 1968: Women compete in Olympic shooting for the first time, while men had been competing in it since the first modern Olympic Games 72 years earlier.  Starting at Mexico City 1968, women competed directly against men. Separate women’s shooting events were not included until 1984.

Montreal 1976: Women’s rowing debuts at the Olympic Games 76 years after men’s rowing was first included. Women’s basketball debuts 40 years after men’s basketball.

Moscow 1980: Women’s field hockey makes its Olympic debut, marking a gender gap of 72 years after men’s field hockey was part of the program.

Los Angeles 1984: LA 1984 features the first Olympic women’s marathon. The men’s marathon had been contested since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, marking a gender gap of 88 years. Women’s road cycling also made its Olympic debut 88 years after the men’s competition.

The 1984 Olympic Games were also when the first two women-only sports were included on the Olympic programme—rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized (now artistic) swimming.

Seoul 1988: Women’s track cycling debuts at the Olympic Games. Only one event was available to women versus the five available for men. Track cycling for men was included in 1896, marking a 92-year gender gap. Seoul 1988 also marks the debut of separate sailing events for women.

Albertville 1992: Women’s biathlon makes its Olympic debut 32 years after the inclusion of men’s biathlon.

Barcelona 1992: Women’s judo debuts at the Olympic Games 28 years after men’s competition.

Atlanta 1996: Women’s soccer makes its Olympic debut 96 years after men’s soccer.

Nagano 1998: Women’s hockey debuts 78 years after men’s hockey became an Olympic sport during the summer Games at Antwerp 1920. Women’s curling debuts as the sport returns to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1924 (where there had only been a men’s event). 

Sydney 2000: Women’s weightlifting makes its debut at the Olympic Games, 104 years after men’s weightlifting, which was one of the original sports of the modern Olympic Games. Women’s water polo made its Olympic debut a century after the men’s competition. Women’s modern pentathlon made its Olympic debut 88 years after the men’s sport.

Salt Lake City 2002: Women’s bobsleigh is contested at the Olympic Games for the first time, 78 years after men competed in the sport at the first Olympic Winter Games.

Athens 2004: Women’s wrestling makes its Olympic debut. Men’s wrestling was one of the sports included in the first edition of the modern Olympic Games, making for a gender gap of 108 years.

London 2012: Women’s boxing makes its Olympic debut. Men first competed in Olympic boxing in 1904, making for a 108-year gender gap. Boxing was the last summer Olympic sport that was for men only, so London 2012 marked the first Games where women competed in every sport on the summer Olympic programme.

Sochi 2014: Women’s ski jumping makes its Olympic debut, 90 years after the men’s edition of the sport.

Tokyo 2020: Women’s canoe events debut at the Olympic Games, 84 years after men were given the opportunity to compete in canoe events. 

READ: Historic Olympic achievements by Team Canada women

“Everyone’s dream starts at the grassroots level, right?” 

That is Team Canada Olympian Melissa Tancredi’s simple answer to why community sport is so important. It’s also why she and teammate Steph Labbé were so excited to lead workshops for both youth coaches and players as part of the Teck Coaching Series.

For the last 10 years the Teck Coaching Series, a partnership between the Canadian Olympic Committee and Teck, has been supporting sport participation and athletic excellence in local communities. The 2024 event took place in Kamloops, B.C., as the series prioritizes providing kids in smaller communities face-to-face time with Canadian Olympians.

Tancredi is a three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at London 2012 and Rio 2016 with Team Canada’s women’s soccer team. Labbé is a two-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medallist, overlapping with Tancredi at Rio 2016 before backstopping Canada to its historic gold medal at Tokyo 2020.

Both Tancredi and Labbé are products of smaller communities, with Tancredi hailing from Ancaster, Ontario and Labbé growing up in Stony Plain, Alberta. With their backgrounds and decades of experience on the national soccer team, the two had a wealth of advice to convey to the coaches and kids of Kamloops.

The morning started with a coaching workshop for minor sport coaches and parents, during which the focus was on understanding and respecting the impact that a coach can have on a young athlete.

“I think for me, the biggest theme was just treating everybody as individuals,” said Labbé. “Every athlete out there is going to learn in a different way… understanding that we all come from different backgrounds, we all have different home lives, we all have different experiences that brought us to that place. So it’s just making sure that we can understand and see each individual–how can we impact that person on their journey?”

Labbé also thinks that as much as coaching is about teaching athletes, it’s also important for coaches to remember that there is so much that they, in fact, can learn from youth athletes. That includes herself and Tancredi during the Teck Coaching Series.

“A lot of people think that we come out and teach them, but they also teach us. They remind us why we got into sport, and that’s because of the joy and excitement that it brings,” said Labbé.

For the skills clinic part of the day, the focus was on just that–having fun while learning something new. It was also about making the Olympic dream seem accessible because, well, you’ve got two athletes who came from a place just like you, right in front of you.

Tancredi and Labbé wanted the kids to really imagine themselves in their shoes, so they first took them through a very similar warm up to the national team’s.

“[We wanted to] get that heart rate up and that excitement of having them feel like– ‘this is what the national team does, and I can do it too!’” said Labbé.

Next up were some shooting, passing, and dribbling drills, with a focus on trying new things and being okay if they don’t work right away. 

The day ended with some super special moments–when the kids got to hold some Olympic medals.

“That was really important–for them to touch the Olympic medals, and basically know that that’s out there for them,” said Tancredi.

It’s great to see your role models on TV, or read about them in the media, but those in-person interactions like those facilitated by the Teck Coaching Series are irreplaceable.

“These interactions are what spark dreams,” said Labbé. “They’re what give that kid confidence to think, ‘You know what? This person is right beside me. They’re a real human being. They came from a place like me. If they can do it, I can do it too.’” 

Reaction shots

Moments captured where athletes achieved a goal, realized a dream, or were overcome with emotions.

Family, friends, fans

Behind every Team Canada athletes is an army of friends, family and fans who’ve helped them get to the Games.

Game faces

Shots of athletes in the zone.

It was all a blur

The Games go by quickly, and sometimes our Team Canada photographers tried capture that vibe.

Action shots

Perhaps the most quintessential type of sport photo is…the action shot.

Specifically, we’re thinking about Canadian athletes who made their Olympic debut in Paris and appear ready to make an even bigger splash four years from now.

Women’s Soccer

Suffice to say the Paris Games didn’t turn out the way the women’s national soccer team would have hoped. But they did provide the chance for two young players to show why they’ll likely be mainstays by the time LA 2028 rolls around.

In fact, 21-year-old defender Jade Rose is already somewhat of a mainstay; she played every minute of Canada’s four games at these Olympics. Meanwhile, 20-year-old midfielder Simi Awujo started in the all-important quarterfinal against Germany.

Both showed composure beyond their years, and it’s hard to believe this will be the only Olympic appearance of their careers.

Rugby Sevens

Canada’s unexpected run to the silver medal in women’s rugby sevens is all the more remarkable when you consider how young the team is. Seven of the 12 players are under 25, all of whom made their Olympic debuts this year.

Given the team’s suddenly high-profile status, it’s tough to call any of them “rising” stars; they have, after all, already risen. And despite their ages, many have been with the team for years and established their on-field bonafides.

Even so, for on-field impact in front of audiences who may not have known them before, we’ll give a nod to 23-year-old Piper Logan (four tries) and 21-year-old Chloe Daniels (two tries, five conversions).

Fencing

While the focus was on Eleanor Harvey‘s historic bronze medal in individual foil, she wasn’t the only Canadian taking to the piste at the Grand Palais.

Yunjia Zhang, 16, held her own alongside Harvey in the team foil event, in which Canada came up just short of another bronze medal. A mention here as well to Jessica Guo who, despite being in her second Olympics, is still just 19.

READ: ‘Bittersweet’ fourth-place finish won’t break fencing team’s ‘powerful’ bond

Athletics

There were some eye-catching medal wins for Canada in athletics at these Games. But there were also some athletes who may have laid the groundwork for their own big moments down the line.

Earlier this year, Christopher Morales-Williams, as a 19-year-old, ran a world’s best time of 44.49 seconds in the indoor men’s 400m. It wasn’t ratified as a world record due to a technical issue, but it raised hopes for his performance in Paris.

Morales-Williams turned 20 during his Olympic debut and reached the semifinal of the men’s 400m. He didn’t run his best race (45.25) at the end of a long and exhausting collegiate season but the future still looks bright.

Another newly-arrived sprinting star is Audrey Leduc, who in April broke a 36-year-old Canadian 100m record. She lowered it again in her first round heat.

Another birthday celebrant in Paris was 21-year-old Savannah Sutherland. The Olympic newcomer reached the final of the women’s 400m hurdles, finishing seventh in a race where a new world record was set. She also ran Canada’s fastest leg in the final of the women’s 4x400m relay, in a time of 50.06 seconds.

Men’s Basketball

Despite losing in the quarterfinals, Canada proved in their first Olympic appearance in 24 years that they can compete with the best.

Canada fielded a younger roster than most of the field, led by point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While SGA has become a household name in basketball circles, these Games helped introduce the likes of RJ Barrett and Andrew Nembhard.

Barrett, son of former Olympian Rowan Barrett, provided consistent scoring and shooting for Canada. Nembhard, meanwhile, had his breakout game against Spain in the final game of the pool play. His 18 points included some clutch buckets that helped Canada clinch top spot in Group A.

Women’s Basketball

Though it was a tough tournament for the team, Canada got a glimpse of what to expect from 22-year-old Aaliyah Edwards. She played a key role in this competition, especially on the glass, grabbing 14 rebounds in three games.

Syla Swords became Canada’s youngest ever Olympic basketball player at age 18. She averaged a modest 3.3 points per game, but was a central part of the rotation for Canada, averaging nearly 21 minutes per game.

Canoe Sprint

While Katie Vincent achieved her dream of winning Olympic gold in the women’s C-1 200m, she wasn’t the only Canadian in the final. Sophia Jensen, a 22-year-old in her first Olympics, finished sixth—less than a second behind her more experienced teammate.

That was Vincent’s second medal at Paris 2024. Her first, a bronze in the women’s C-2 500m, came alongside another 22-year-old up-and-comer, Sloan Mackenzie.

Swimming

Canada once again had a big Games in the pool, headlined by Olympic veterans such as Summer McIntosh and Kylie Masse. But a number of first-time Olympians made their impacts as well.

Can we really call 19-year-old Ilya Kharun a “rising” star, given that he won two medals in Paris? Well, we will, given that he only competed in his first major international swim meet just two years ago.

Julie Brousseau and Ella Jansen, both 18, came up just short of their own medals as part of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

Wrestling

It was an impressive first Olympics for 24-year-old Ana Godinez Gonzalez. Competing in the women’s freestyle 62kg event, she notched a fifth-place finish in Paris after making it all the way to a bronze medal match.

Gonzalez is the oldest of the rising stars we’ve named here. But as Carol Huynh and Daniel Igali have shown us in the past, there’s definitely precedent for Canadian wrestlers in their late 20s hitting the Olympic podium for the first time.

The three core values of the Olympic movement are excellence, respect and friendship. There’s no podium necessary for an athlete to display one, two or even all three of those traits.

Members of Team Canada have been demonstrating those values throughout Paris 2024. Here are a few examples.

Black and Olsen lift a competitor’s spirits

Ellie Black has had plenty of memorable moments in her career as a gymnast. Her latest one didn’t come on any apparatus; it came from the heart.

Black and Canadian teammate Shallon Olsen were captured consoling French gymnast Melanie de Jesus dos Santos after the host nation star had a tough time in the qualification round, missing out on advancing to the all-around final and the French team missed the team final at their home Games.

“I feel like we all kind of go through the same thing,” Olsen reflected a few days later. “We know how hard gymnastics is and we’ve all experienced disappointment in our own ways. So I think it was easy to relate to her because we’ve all been there at one point. So if I can do something to make somebody smile and uplift her, then that’s what I was going to do.”

“It was an amazing experience going out there and competing with France,” added Black. “That’s the greatest thing about sport is it brings us together. I’ve known Melanie for a long, long time. She’s a really good friend and I just wanted to remind her that it’s not always about the results. It’s who she is […] just reminding her that she she is enough and whether you have a perfect day or not, the sun will shine and it will come back out again.”

Dolci recovers from a scary moment

While athletes try to prepare for every possibility, artistic gymnast Félix Dolci couldn’t have expected what happened in the men’s all-around final.

The first-time Olympian was competing on the horizontal bar when his hand guard unexpectedly snapped, sending him hurtling to the mat in terrifying fashion. He got up, unhurt, as he received massive applause from the audience.

Since his fall was due to an equipment malfunction, he was later allowed to restart his routine. Would we call it bravery? Resilience? Determination? Whatever it’s called, it was certainly a show of excellence.

Ahmed has ‘no regrets’ in 10,000m

Values really shine through in moments of adversity, and that was surely the case for distance runner Mohammed Ahmed. The four-time Olympian ran the race of his life in the men’s 10,000m and looked poised to claim a medal.

But in the dying moments of the gruelling race, he was overtaken and would finish in fourth, just 0.67 seconds off the podium. Still, he immediately threw a celebratory arm around Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, who set an Olympic record and won gold.

“Honestly I have no regrets. I think I ran that really, really f—ing well,” he told CBC Sports after the race. “My legs are really, really dead. So, I did everything I could.

“These are the hardest Olympics, in the history of the Olympics. … Yes I’m disappointed, but I gave it everything I had.”

Playing for each other on the pitch

There were high hopes in women’s soccer, as Canada came into the tournament as defending gold medallists. But a drone-flying controversy sent the team’s head coach home in disgrace and led to a six-point deduction.

Many made the case that it was disproportionately punitive to the players, who weren’t involved in the situation. The players, however, relied on each other and pulled off a trio of dramatic wins in the group stage to reach the quarterfinals.

READ: Improbable journey in women’s soccer ends with heartbreak for Canada

“A lot has been taken away from us as players who have had nothing to do with any of the actions,” said defender Vanessa Gilles, who scored two game-winning goals. “The one thing that we can control, the one thing that is in our grasp is the pitch. That’s something they can’t take away from us, as much as they tried.

“So just sticking together and knowing that we can control that, and that if we go into that knowing that and believing in that, then the world’s our oyster.”

‘She worked so hard for this moment’

They didn’t face the same type of adversity as the soccer team, but the silver-medal-winning women’s rugby sevens squad showed off their own unbreakable bonds in Paris.

Krissy Scurfield was knocked out of the tournament after being injured in Canada’s opening match against New Zealand. Her injury meant she couldn’t join the team in the stadium for the gold-medal game, or on the podium afterwards.

But her teammates used her absence as motivation, and were thrilled that she was able to claim her silver medal after the fact when they were celebrated at Canada Olympic House.

Friendship prevails

Two straight fourth-place finishes at the Olympics are a tough pill for any athlete to swallow. But that’s the situation for diver Caeli McKay in the women’s 10m synchro event. She and Kate Miller came up just short of the podium in Paris.

“We ended up fourth today, but that doesn’t take away from all of our hard work and it doesn’t take away from our careers together and our journey and our value,” said McKay.

“She’s one of my best friends, so it’s nice to be able to be here together and have another shoulder to cry on together.”

Role model mom

In some ways, Paige Crozon’s path to 3×3 basketball was intertwined with becoming a mom. Crozon had been playing basketball in Europe, but after her daughter Poppy was born, those teams weren’t sure about having a single parent on the roster. But with 3×3 as a new discipline, perhaps there was an opportunity at home. A phone call between Crozon and Michelle Plouffe, her former university teammate, planted the seed of… “we could go to the Olympics!”

Their team culture is one rooted in friendship, respect, support, and fun–including support Crozon’s identity as a mom. Now Poppy is in Paris cheering on her mom and her teammates as their number one fan, and honourary fifth teammate.

READ: Momentum: 3×3 basketball player Paige Crozon sheds light on elite sport and motherhood

Career-best performance as birthday present

Sophiane Méthot had burst onto the international scene with a bang, winning bronze at her first world championships in 2017. But then came some difficult years, as she dealt with injuries and mental blocks that affected her air awareness — something incredibly important in trampoline.

But with great support behind her, she put it all together on the biggest stage. The day before her 26th birthday, she delivered the performance of her life to win an Olympic bronze medal.

Here’s a look back at all the Team Canada action!

Paris 2024 Competition Schedule

Swimming

The evening session started off with a bang as Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun won silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s 100m butterfly. Liendo finished in 49.99 seconds, just 0.09 back of gold medallist Kristof Milak of Hungary. Kharun, who had won bronze in the 200m butterfly a few days ago, came in 0.46 behind his teammate. This is Canada’s first double podium at the Olympic Summer Games since Montreal 1976, which also came in swimming and is Canada’s only other Olympic double podium in the sport.

About 40 minutes later, Summer McIntosh won her third gold medal and fourth medal of Paris 2024 as she set an Olympic record time of 2:06.56 in the women’s 200m individual medley. She becomes the first Canadian athlete, winter or summer, to win three gold medals in one Olympic Games. She ties teammate Penny Oleksiak for the most medals won by a Canadian athlete at one edition of the Olympic Summer Games.

The night was capped with a fifth-place finish in the mixed 4x100m medley relay by Kylie Masse, Finlay Knox, Liendo, and Maggie Mac Neil. That is Canada’s best Olympic result in the event, which debuted at Tokyo 2020.

Also in the evening session, Taylor Ruck finished 13th overall in the semifinals of the women’s 50m freestyle and will not advance to the final. She had been eighth-fastest in the morning heats.

The morning session also included the heats of the women’s and men’s 4x100m medley relays. Canada was second fastest in the women’s heats as the quartet of Ingrid Wilm, Sophie Angus, Mary-Sophie Harvey, and Penny Oleksiak finished in 3:56.10. Canada heads to the final of the men’s final ranked seventh after Blake Tierney, Knox, Kharun, and Javier Acevedo posted a time of 3:32.33.

Rowing

It was particularly fitting that Team Canada’s women’s eight delivered the first medal of Day 8 of Paris 2024. 

The crew of Jessica Sevick, Caileigh Filmer, Maya Meschkuleit, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys, Sydney Payne, Kristina Walker, Abby Dent, Kristen Kit rowed to silver for their second straight Olympic medal in the event. Team Canada completed the 2000m course at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in 5:58.84 to finish behind a powerful Romanian boat.

READ: Canada’s rowing eight is battle tested, and back on the podium

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Information Hub

Tennis

Félix Auger-Aliassime came up just short of winning a second bronze medal at Paris 2024. A day after reaching the podium in mixed doubles with Gaby Dabrowski, he fell in three sets in the men’s singles bronze medal match to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

His fourth-place finish is still a great accomplishment as he posts Canada’s best Olympic result ever in either of the singles tennis tournaments.

Athletics

It was a tough day at Stade de France as Damian Warner no-heighted in the pole vault, the third-last event of the decathlon, ending his hopes of defending his Olympic gold medal. Devastated, he then withdrew from the competition. Warner had been sitting second place heading into the pole vault.

Audrey Leduc missed out on advancing to the final of the women’s 100m when she placed 12th overall in the semifinals in a time of 11.10 seconds.

Andre De Grasse is the lone Canadian man moving on from the first round of the men’s 100m. He finished third in his heat in 10.07 seconds. Aaron Brown had a false start in his heat and was disqualified while Duan Asemota was fifth in his heat in his Olympic debut.

Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is moving on to the semifinals of the men’s 1500m after finishing second in his repechage heat. He will not be joined by Kieran Lumb who was eliminated following his fifth-place finish in the other repechage heat.

Jazz Shukla was also eliminated in the repechage of the women’s 800m.

Football (Soccer)

Canada bowed out of the women’s soccer tournament in heartbreaking fashion, losing to Germany in the quarterfinals. After the match finished 0-0, Germany would win 4-2 on penalty kicks. Quinn and Janine Beckie converted their penalty kicks for Canada.

It’s Canada’s first loss at the Olympics since the semifinals of Rio 2016, also against Germany. And it’s the first time since Beijing 2008 that Canada won’t win a medal in women’s soccer, after winning bronze at London 2012, bronze at Rio 2016 and gold at Tokyo 2020.

Canoe/Kayak Slalom

In the first round of women’s kayak cross, Lois Betteridge finished fourth in her heat, forcing her into a repechage. Betteridge finished second in her repechage, qualifying her for the elimination round.

Alex Baldoni finished second in his heat, and will move on to the elimination round. Those elimination rounds begin on Sunday.

Beach Volleyball

Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are into the Round of 16 in the women’s tournament after winning their “lucky loser” match 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) over Czechia’s Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova. They had not received the direct bye into the Round of 16 after dropping their final preliminary round match 2-0 (21-14, 22-20) to Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasjia Samoilova, so ended up in the must-win scenario to keep their medal hopes alive.

Unfortunately, Sam Schachter and Daniel Dearing had to forfeit their lucky loser match to Chile’s Marco and Esteban Grimalt after playing just three games due to a back injury Dearing had sustained.

Artistic Gymnastics

Ellie Black and Shallon Olsen represented Team Canada in the women’s vault final. Black scored 13.933 to finish sixth, while Olsen scored 13.366 to finish eighth. The gold medal went to American Simone Biles. It was the third straight Games at which Olsen had qualified to the eight-woman vault final while Black was back in it for the first time since her Olympic debut at London 2012.

Road Cycling

Derek Gee and Michael Woods raced through the French countryside and the streets of Paris during the men’s road race. Woods and Gee crossed the line together, finishing the 273 kilometre course in a time of 6:26:57. They placed 41st and 44th, respectively.

3×3 Basketball

Team Canada defeated Azerbaijan 21-19 to finish fourth in pool play. This required the Canadians to play an additional play-in game against Australia. The Canadians emerged victorious from that game, by a final score of 21-10. Kacie Bosch was the team’s high scorer with nine points while Paige Crozon contributed five.

Golf

After three days of play at Le Golf National, Corey Conners is tied for 17th in the standings at 7-under-par after repeating his round two performance of a 2-under-par 69. Teammate Nick Taylor sits tied for 34th place at 2-under-par. He scored his best round yet, with a 3-under par 68.

Sailing

After the third day of racing in the ILCA 6 class, Sarah Douglas sits in 11th place. Day 8 saw her highest placing in the opening series, finishing eighth in race number six. Four races remain in the opening series before the top 10 sailors advance to the medal race.

Volleyball

The Canadian men’s volleyball team has been eliminated after dropping their final preliminary round match 3-2 to Serbia. Canada had won the first two sets (25-16, 25-22) before losing three straight (24-26, 19-25, 16-18). Canada went winless in the tournament.

Judo

Team Canada fell 4-0 to Uzbekistan in the mixed team elimination round of 16. The Canadian team included 57kg gold medallist Christa Deguchi, along with Arthur Margelidon, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, François Gauthier-Drapeau, Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi, and Shady Elnahas.

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Despite dominating most of Saturday’s quarterfinal against Germany, Canada came up short in the penalty shootout. It means that, for the first time since Beijing 2008, Canada will leave the Olympics without a medal in women’s soccer.

But for the team that won gold at Tokyo 2020, even making the quarterfinals was a massive achievement. A drone-flying controversy early on in Paris led to head coach Bev Priestman’s suspension and a six-point deduction for the team.

That meant the team needed to win all three group stage games to have any chance at the quarterfinals. And by keeping their focus squarely on what they could control, that’s precisely what the team did.

“Our team has done an incredible job just shutting out the noise,” said Janine Beckie. “Our staff has been absolutely incredible, open, available, whatever we needed, they’re working 24 hours a day.”

Beckie entered the quarterfinal as a halftime substitute, after what appeared to be an injury to captain Jessie Fleming. Though Germany held the advantage for much of the first half, the addition of Beckie, Adriana Leon, Evelyne Viens and Cloé Lacasse turned the tide in Canada’s favour.

Though Canada poured on the attacking pressure, they couldn’t find a goal through the standard 90 minutes or 30 minutes of extra time. That left them at the mercy of soccer’s most soul-sapping lottery, the penalty shootout.

And while the team prevailed twice on penalties in Tokyo, including in the gold medal game, it wasn’t to be in Paris. Beckie and midfielder Quinn converted theirs, but Germany would win 4-2.

“Super proud of the performance,” said interim head coach Andy Spence. “The momentum that the players brought on was great; unfortunately, we couldn’t quite get over the line.”

In the emotional aftermath of the match, Spence—thrust into a role he wouldn’t have expected—had only positives to offer.

“All I could say for them was how immensely proud I was of everyone, players and staff,” said Spence. “Ultimately, these moments can either make you or break you, and I think with this team, it’s absolutely going to make them.”

While veterans such as Beckie and Fleming provided leadership throughout the tournament, there were also breakout performances from players who could play important roles for Canada moving forward.

Viens, in her second Olympics, staked her claim as a massive part of Canada’s attack. Gabrielle Carle, also a two-time Olympian, stepped up after being a last-minute addition to the main roster.

READ: Defying all odds, Canada’s players march on in women’s soccer

And a pair of Olympic rookies, 21-year-old Jade Rose and 20-year-old Simi Awujo, firmly entrenched themselves as difference makers in the years to come.

Where will they fit in? And how will this team look as they look to get back onto the podium at Los Angeles 2028?

“I’m sure people will have questions moving forward,” said Beckie. “We just have to keep taking it one step at a time, switch off and then regroup.”

Here’s what you don’t want to miss:

Team Canada Athletes Competing Today

Tennis

Félix Auger-Aliassime will play in the men’s singles bronze medal match against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. That will be the fourth match up on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland-Garros where action gets underway at noon local / 6:00 a.m. ET 

Rowing

The Canadian women’s eight will race to defend their gold medal from Tokyo 2020 in the A Final at 10:50 a.m. local time / 4:50 a.m. ET. As they did in Tokyo, the Canadians had to race in a repechage heat on their way to the final.

Football (soccer)

Team Canada will play Germany in the quarterfinals of the women’s soccer tournament at 7:00 p.m. local time / 1:00 p.m. ET. The Canadians are undefeated in the tournament thus far while Germany had two wins and one loss in group play.

 READ: Defying all odds, Canada’s players march on in women’s soccer

Athletics

Track and field action will get off to a start at 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET. Damian Warner will contest the second day of the men’s decathlon, with the 110m hurdles, discus throw and pole vault on deck in the morning. The evening session will feature the javelin and 1500m–after which the Olympic champion will be crowned. After the first day of competition, Warner sits in fourth with 4561 points.

The first round of the men’s 100m will include two-time Olympic bronze medallist Andre De Grasse, as well as Aaron Brown and Duan Asemota.

Jazz Shukla will compete in the women’s 800m repechage, also in the morning session.

In the evening session, beginning at 7:00 p.m. local / 1:00 p.m. ET, Kieran Lumb will compete in the first repechage heat for the men’s 1500m, while Charles Philibert-Thiboutot will compete in the second repechage heat. The top three in each heat will advance to the semifinals.

Audrey Leduc will race in semifinal heat number three of the women’s 100m. The top two athletes in each heat, plus the next two fastest overall, will advance to the final, which will take place later in the evening.

Paris 2024 Competition Schedule

Swimming

Swimming action is ongoing at Paris 2024! In the morning session, beginning at 11:00 a.m. local time / 5:00 a.m. ET, Taylor Ruck will race in the women’s 50m freestyle heats in the hopes of qualifying for the evening’s semifinals. Team Canada will also field relay squads in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relay heats.

In the evening session, starting at 8:30 p.m. local / 2:30 p.m. ET, Josh Liendo will race in the men’s 100m butterfly final. Summer McIntosh and Sydney Pickrem will compete in the women’s 200m IM final

Canada is also qualified for the mixed 4x100m medley relay final after Blake Tierney, Apollo Hess, Maggie Mac Neil, and Taylor Ruck were sixth-fastest in the Friday heats.

Road Cycling

Derek Gee will celebrate his 27th birthday by competing in the men’s road race alongside Michael Woods. The 274km route is one of the longest in Olympic history. It gets started at 11:00 a.m. local / 5:00 a.m. ET.

Artistic Gymnastics 

Ellie Black and Shallon Olsen will compete in the women’s vault final. Black is coming off a sixth-place finish in the individual all-around. Olsen has qualified for the vault final at the last two Olympic Games. The final goes at 4:20 p.m. local / 10:20 a.m. ET.

Judo

Mixed team judo competition will begin at 8:00 a.m. local time / 2:00 a.m. ET. Team Canada has a bye into the Round of 16, where they will take on Uzbekistan. The tournament will continue throughout the day, with the podium being decided in the afternoon session, beginning at 4:00 p.m. local / 10:00 a.m. ET. This is the first time Canada will be entered in the mixed team event which debuted at Tokyo 2020.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Information Hub

Beach Volleyball

Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson will take on Tina Graudina and Anastaija Samoilova of Latvia at 5:00 p.m. local / 11:00 a.m. ET for their final match of the preliminary round. A top two finish in their pool would get the Canadians directly into the Round of 16. They currently have a 1-1 record, as do the Latvians.

Canoe/Kayak Slalom

The first round of women’s and men’s kayak cross will take place, featuring Lois Betteridge and Alex Baldoni. Those start at 3:30 p.m local / 9:30 a.m. ET. The first two in each heat will advance to the knockout rounds while the remaining paddlers will move onto the repechage starting at 6:05 p.m local / 12:05 p.m. ET.

Sailing

Day 8 will see another day of ILCA 6 races. With three races done over two days of competition, Sarah Douglas sits in 17th place.

Volleyball

Team Canada’s men’s volleyball team will play Serbia in their final preliminary round match at 9:00 p.m. local / 3:00 p.m. ET. Both teams come in with 0-2 records in Pool A.

Golf 

Team Canada’s golfers, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, will tee off for their third round of men’s individual stroke play. Conners will tee off in Saturday’s third round alongside Rory McIlroy of Ireland and Jason Day of Australia at 11:44 a.m. local / 5:44 a.m. ET. Taylor will tee off in Saturday’s third round at 9:44 a.m. local / 3:44 a.m ET.

3×3 Basketball

Team Canada will take on Team Azerbaijan at 5:30 p.m. local /11:30 a.m. ET in their final match of the preliminary round.

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The bronze medal at London 2012 was transformative. The gold medal at Tokyo 2020 was rapturous. But the squad’s camaraderie and resilience in the face of adversity at Paris 2024 has been truly unprecedented—and it’s given them a chance to defend that gold medal.

After a 2-1 win over New Zealand in their opening match, a cloud of controversy surrounded the team. Head coach Bev Priestman was suspended and the team handed a six-point deduction in the wake of a drone being flown over a New Zealand training session.

Many argued the punishment was unfairly harsh to the players, who’d had no involvement in the controversy. Retired stars Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Labbé said they’d never viewed any drone footage in their long tenures with the national team.

Still, the players went into what seemed like an impossible situation on Day 2. They faced what was suddenly a must-win game against No. 2-ranked France, on French soil, all while carrying the weight of the growing controversy on their shoulders.

Nevertheless, they persisted.

Fighting for one another

With only each other to rely upon, the players turned in one of their most tenacious and spirited performances in years.

A first-half goal by France in front of a partisan crowd at the 42,000-seat Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne couldn’t hold the Canadians down. Jessie Fleming scored in the second half to level things, and numerous delays led to an eye-popping 13 minutes of second-half stoppage time being added on.

The Canadians bombarded the French goal in stoppage time. After all, without a goal, there was no tomorrow.

In the dying minutes, an unexpected hero emerged. Defender Vanessa Gilles, pushed forward in the team’s last-ditch effort to score, pounced on a rebound and scored the winning goal.

Two wins, six points, penalty erased.

Still, Canada needed a win over Colombia on Day 5 to advance to the quarterfinals. An official appeal of the six-point deduction had been dismissed earlier on Wednesday.

Gilles said the players were “gutted” to learn of the decision, but that it didn’t change their approach to the Colombia match.

“We needed to go in, we needed to win,” said Gilles. “We needed to believe in each other, and we needed to stick through it.”

In that match, Fleming whipped an excellent free kick into the penalty area in the 20th minute that was headed just wide by Jordyn Huitema. The Colombians applied their own attacking pressure, but the defensive corps of Gilles, Kadeisha Buchanan and Jade Rose held firm.

The addition of Nichelle Prince at halftime gave Canada some offensive spark in the second half. It all came to a head (literally) in the 61st minute: another quality free kick from Fleming was nodded into the Colombian goal by Gilles.

Renowned for their organizational abilities, the players locked things down defensively and held on for the 1-0 victory.

“A lot has been taken away from us as players,” said Gilles. “The one thing that we can control, the one thing that is in our grasp is the pitch. That’s something they can’t take away from us.”

Path back to the podium

It’s just the second time, after Rio 2016, that Canada has won all three games in the group stage. But the point deduction in Paris means they finished second in Group A, earning a quarterfinal date with Germany on Saturday.

Germany, a traditional powerhouse in the sport, is ranked No. 4 in the world. Canada currently sits at No. 8.

The path back to the podium was always going to be a difficult one for Canada, even before all the controversy. This year’s Olympic tournament is packed with quality teams, a half dozen of which are serious medal contenders.

So if these Canadian players are to retain their title as Olympic champions, they’ll need to hunker down, ignore the noise and emerge victorious in several consecutive high-pressure, must-win games.

READ: Golden generation lifts iconic Sinclair to the Olympic pinnacle

Can they do it? Well, they’ve already done it once.

“We’ve been in knockout rounds for two games now, so we have experience with it,” said Gilles.

Whatever becomes of this team at Paris 2024, these players will surely be remembered for their poise and their perseverance.

Triathlon

The women’s triathlon featuring Canadian Emy Legault is scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. local time / 2:00 a.m. ET. The men’s triathlon featuring Charles Paquet and Tyler Mislawchuk should follow at 10:45 a.m. local / 4:45 a.m. ET. The men’s triathlon was originally scheduled for July 30, however poor water quality in the Seine caused the event to be rescheduled.

Swimming

The morning session of swimming on Day 5 (11:00 a.m. – 12:06 p.m. local / 5:00 a.m – 6:06 a.m. ET) will see multiple Canadians fighting to move on to semifinals as they compete in preliminary heats. Kelsey Wog will swim in the women’s 200m breaststroke heats, Blake Tierney will swim in the men’s 200m backstroke heats, and Summer McIntosh, who already has two medals to her name, will swim in the women’s 200m butterfly heats. For each of these events, the semifinals will take place in the evening session, 8:30 p.m.-11:10 p.m. local / 2:30 p.m – 5:10 p.m. ET.

Ilya Kharun will compete in the men’s 200m butterfly final at 8:37 p.m. local / 2:37 p.m. ET. He was third-fastest in the semifinals

Team Canada Athletes Competing Today

Diving

Caeli McKay and Kate Miller will compete in the women’s synchronized 10m platform final at 11:00 a.m local / 5:00 a.m. ET. Teammates Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray snagged a bronze medal in the men’s 10m synchro on July 29.

Artistic Gymnastics

Félix Dolci and René Cournoyer will represent Team Canada in the men’s all-around final, kicking off at 5:30 p.m. local time / 11:30 a.m. ET. They qualified for the final in 21st and 24th position, respectively. On Monday they were part of Canada’s eighth-place finish in the men’s team event, the first time the country had ever competed in the men’s team final at the Olympic Games.

Paris 2024 Competition Schedule

Beach Volleyball

Two Canadian teams will hit the sand at the base of the Eiffel Tower on Day 5 of the Games. Sam Schachter and Daniel Dearing will take on Evandro Goncalves Olivieria and Arthur Diego Marian Lanci of Brazil. The match will take place at 8:00 p.m. local / 2:00 p.m. ET.

Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson will play Switzerland’s Zoe Depre-Verge and Esmee Boebner at 9:00 p.m. local / 3:00 p.m. ET.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Information Hub

Boxing

Tammara Thibeault will box in her first match of the women’s 75kg tournament against Cindy Djankeu Ngamba of the Olympic Refugee Team at 5:06 p.m. local / 11:06 a.m. ET.

Badminton

Michelle Li will kick things off for Team Canada on Day 5 with a women’s singles group play match against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan at 8:30 a.m. local time / 2:30 a.m. ET. Brian Yang will play a men’s singles group play match against Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the afternoon session, which starts at 2:00 p.m. local time / 8:00 a.m. EST.

3×3 Basketball

Team Canada’s women’s 3×3 basketball team of Katherine Plouffe, Michelle Plouffe, Paige Crozon and Kacie Bosch will take on Team China at 6:00 p.m. local / noon  ET. The Canadians won their first game against Australia on Day 4, with a score of 22-14.

READ: Team Canada secures first ever Olympic 3×3 win against Australia

Fencing

Team Canada will be on the piste for the men’s team sabre Table of 8, facing off against South Korea at 1:30 p.m. local / 7:30 a.m. ET. The tournament will continue all day, with the podium being decided starting at 7:30 p.m. local / 1:30 p.m. ET.

Football (Soccer)

The Canadian women’s soccer team will take on Team Colombia at 9:00 p.m. local time / 3:00 p.m. ET. Team Canada has won their first two games of the tournament thus far, defeating New Zealand 2-1 on July 25, and taking down the host nation of France 2-1 on July 28. Colombia will be their final match of group play.

Rowing

Jill Moffatt and Jenny Casson will row in the lightweight women’s double sculls semifinals. The Canadian duo will compete in heat one of two, alongside the USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Poland and Argentina. Each heat features six boats, with the top three in each semifinal advancing to the A Final.

Shooting

Tye Ikeda will compete in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions qualification round, taking place at 9:00 a.m. local / 3:00 a.m. ET.

Sailing

The last three races of the opening series for the 49erFX and 49er are on the schedule. The top 10 boats in each event after 12 races will advance to the Medal Race on August 1. Georgia and Antonia Lewin-LaFrance are in 11th place after nine races in 49er FX. In the 49er class, Will Jones and Justin Barnes sit in 16th after nine races.

Table Tennis

Mo Zhang will take on France’s Jia Nan Yuan in the women’s singles round of 32 at 12:00 p.m. local / 6:00 a.m. ET.

Tennis

Félix Auger-Aliassime will play Daniil Medvedev (Individual Neutral Athlete) in the third round of the men’s singles tournament. Auger-Aliassime will also compete in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles tournament with Gaby Dabrowski, taking on Team USA’s Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz. It’s also a double match day for Dabrowski, who will play alongside Leylah Annie Fernandez in the second round of the women’s doubles tournament. They will play Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schnaider (Individual Neutral Athletes).

Equestrian

It will be Grand Prix Day 2 for both individual and team dressage. Camille Carier Bergeron (Finnländerin) will be up for Canada after Naïma Moreira Laliberté (Statesman) and Chris von Martels (Eclips) competed on Day 1. Competition begins a 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET.

Water Polo

Team Canada’s women’s water polo team will play China in the women’s preliminary round at 3:35 p.m. local / 9:35 a.m. ET.

Paris 2024 Info

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