The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo have now come to a close and Team Canada did very well, earning 24 medals- seven gold, six silver, and 11 bronze. In fact, that is the most medals Canada has captured at a non-boycotted Summer Games, and with seven golds, that total ties the amount earned at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Spain. With their overall medal total, it was good enough for 11th place among all nations. The top three were the United States, China, and host Japan, respectively.
Picking up where we left off, medal 13 was bronze, earned by Canada’s women’s 4x100-meter medley relay team. They set a national record with a time of three minutes, 52.60 seconds. One of the team members -Penny Oleksiak- became Canada’s most decorated Olympian with the finish, earning her seventh Olympic medal.
In one of the most significant events of the Summer Olympics, Canadian Andre De Grasse had a bronze medal finish in the men’s 100-meter race. He overcame a rough lane placement to finish with a personal best of 9.89 seconds. This was the first medal earned by a male Olympian for Canada at these Games in Tokyo.
In the men’s 200 meter race, Andre De Grasse made Canada proud by claiming the gold medal in the event. Andre set a personal best and Candian record after crossing the line in 19.62 seconds. He joins Canadians Robert Kerr and Percy Williams who are also Canadian gold medalists in this event.
Laurence Vincent Lapointe won the silver medal in the women’s 200-meter canoe sprint race finishing with a time of 46.786. Laurence has previously won gold medals in the same event at the World Championships, most recently in 2018.
Damian Warner won gold in the decathlon with an Olympic record of 9,018 total points. The London, Ontario native set Olympic decathlon records in the long jump as well as 110-meter hurdles. That was good enough for Warner to be named the flag bearer at the Closing Ceremonies for Team Canada. He was a bronze medalist in the decathlon in Rio in 2016.
Lauriane Genest won bronze in women’s keirin track cycling. She won gold in the same event back in 2019 at the Pan American Games.
Evan Dunfee won the bronze medal in the men's 50-kilometer race walk. After being in fifth place when the bell sounded for the final lap, he managed to make his way up to the podium with a time of three hours, 50 minutes, and 59 seconds. Evan won bronze in the 50-kilometer race walk back in 2019 at the World Championships.
Mohammed Ahmed took home silver in the men’s 5,000-meter race with a time of 12 minutes and 58.61 seconds. This is Canada’s first Olympic medal in the men’s 5,000-meter race. Mohammed had previously won bronze in the men’s 5,000 at the 2019 World Championships.
Team Canada’s men’s 4x100-metre relay team brought home the bronze medal after finishing the event in 37.70 seconds. With the third-place finish, Andre De Grasse became the most decorated male Olympian in Canadian history.
After an exciting match, Team Canada took home gold in women’s soccer after finishing in third place in London and Rio. Canada went 1-2-0 in the group stage. After beating Brazil in penalties, Canada stunned the United States 1-0 to end their winless drought to advance to the gold medal match. Canada beat Sweden in penalties with Julia Grasso scoring the golden goal.
Claiming Canada’s final bronze medal was Katie Vincent and Laurence Vincent Lapointe in the women’s C-2 500-meter race. This duo was 5th at a point in this race but managed to keep their heads held high and find their way to the podium. This was Laurence’s second medal at the Games.
Kelsey Mitchell won the record-tying gold medal in the women’s track cycling sprint event. Canada’s last medal came with a remarkable story: four years ago she was playing varsity soccer at university and did not own a bike- an impressive four years for Kelsey.
Female athletes dominated the medal haul for Canada. Aquatics and athletic events were Team Canada’s strongest events. With 24 medals, seven golds, and many records set, Canadians can all agree that the extra one year wait was worth it as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go down as one of the most memorable in Canadian history.