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

Canadian athletes won 27 medals, surpassing the 24 medals won at Tokyo 2020, to make Paris 2024 Team Canada’s second most successful Olympic Summer Games of all time. Nine of those medals were gold, seven were silver, and 11 were bronze. Medals were won by 50 athletes in 15 different sports.

Relive some of the greatest achievements of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games—as remembered by many of those medal-winning athletes—with the Team Canada Rewind series.

Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney, Andre De Grasse

Headed into Paris 2024, Team Canada’s men’s 4x100m relay team almost had the full collection of medals—they just needed that gold…

Philip Kim (Phil Wizard)

Phil Wizard says his path to breaking gold was paved with Parisian pastries…

Camryn Rogers

Apparently an Olympic gold medal weighs about the same as a hammer…

Ethan Katzberg

When the plan is to get a solid first hammer throw in—but then you go full Thor and secure gold…

Summer McIntosh

That first 400m freestyle silver medal left her hungry for gold… so she snagged three of them in the 400m IM, 200m IM, and 200m butterfly…

Christa Deguchi

From missing out on qualifying for Tokyo 2020, to topping the podium at Paris 2024 in the women’s 57kg judo event…

Team Canada Rugby Sevens

When you have to take down the home team in their own stadium to advance… and then you go on to claim silver…

Team Canada Rowing Eight

Coxswain Kristen Kit‘s message to the crew of the women’s eight en route to their silver medal? “Heads in the boat!”

Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray

“It’s a weight off of my shoulders…and onto my neck” was one way Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray looked back on their bronze in men’s 10m synchro diving…

Marco Arop

“I knew the race was going to be fast…I wasn’t expecting it to be that fast.” Marco Arop threw down a huge personal best and new Canadian record to take silver in the men’s 800m…

Maude Charron

A change in weight class couldn’t stop Maude from snagging the women’s 59kg weightlifting silver…

Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson

“It has not sunk in yet that we’ve made history.” Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are Team Canada’s first ever Olympic medallists in women’s beach volleyball…

Josh Liendo

When you look at your teammate before a race and say: “It’d be pretty cool if we both ended up on the podium.” And then you do—with silver and bronze…

Alysha Newman

Alysha Newman knows that to perform her best, she’s got to be having fun. She had a blast at the Olympic Games—and blasted herself to new heights to take the women’s pole vault bronze medal…

Skylar Park

“Once I knew I had that shot, there was no stopping me.” Skylar Park fought her way onto the women’s 57kg taekwondo podium…

Kylie Masse

Kylie Masse has competed at three Olympic Games and medalled at every one of them. At Paris 2024 she claimed bronze in the women’s 200m backstroke…

Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gaby Dabrowski

The Canadian duo battled back from the brink of exhaustion to the Olympic podium, winning bronze in mixed doubles at the legendary Roland-Garros…

Sophiane Méthot

An Olympic debut, but make it a podium. That’s how Sophiane Méthot flew to bronze in women’s trampoline at Paris 2024…

Katie Vincent and Sloan Mackenzie

The Olympic Games are just like any other regatta… except not. But Katie Vincent and Sloan Mackenzie paddled their way onto the podium in the women’s C-2 500m…

Eleanor Harvey

“When I was a kid, I would look at Olympians and almost view them as superheroes.” Canadian fencer Eleanor Harvey is now one of those superheroes, with a bronze medal to match…

Wyatt Sanford

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Wyatt Sanford spent 15 years working towards his 63.5kg boxing bronze medal.

At her first Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020, Vincent stood on the podium proudly, having won a bronze medal in the women’s C-2 500m alongside teammate Laurence Vincent Lapointe. The Chinese team of Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya took gold, and the Ukrainian duo of Liudmyla Luzan and Anastasiia Rybachok took silver. What a day.

Three years later, Vincent is on the podium at Paris 2024. She is standing on the third step, having won a bronze medal in the women’s C-2 500m. If she looks over her right shoulder, she can see the Chinese team of Shixiao and Mengya on the top step, alongside Ukrainians Luzan and Rybachok on the second step. What a day.

Five repeat medallists, all on the same podium steps, three years later.

“The only difference was Sloan [Mackenzie, Vincent’s current teammate],” Vincent says with a laugh. “It’s kind of crazy to think about how different the racing and experience was compared to racing with Laurence…but achieving the same thing. So it’s kind of weird in my brain.”

Olympic.ca chatted with Vincent and Mackenzie after they had a bit of time to savour their Paris 2024 experience. The two paddlers shared some of what goes on behind the scenes at an Olympic Games, as well as some culinary highlights that will be sure to give you a chuckle.

How it started

Mackenzie first met Vincent when she was invited to a junior national team training camp where they were briefly paired in a C-2 together as an exercise–an older athlete and a younger athlete put together for fun. They tried out the C-2 once again at Mackenzie’s first national team training camp in 2020. Again, it was a one-off, as Vincent was still partnered with Vincent Lapointe ahead of Tokyo.

Following Vincent Lapointe’s retirement, the 2021 national team camp involved testing out different pairings. With the third time being the charm, Mackenzie and Vincent  officially became a partnership.

“I was shocked,” said Mackenzie. “I was young then [19] and I couldn’t believe it.

“I just remember the coach saying, ‘You’re with Katie–she’s the fastest on the team. You have to train super hard to make sure you stay in the C-2.’ And I was like ‘I will! I will!’”

At first the duo and their coaches tried things out with Mackenzie in the back of the boat and Vincent in the front–the opposite of Vincent’s setup with Vincent Lapointe. After racing in those positions in 2022, including a sixth-place finish at the world championships, the team switched places, with Vincent in the back and Mackenzie in the front.

“I think it just clicked like that. From there, we just got a little better and better every time we raced,” said Mackenzie.

They finished third at the 2023 ICF World Championships, qualifying Canada a spot in the C-2 500m for Paris 2024. At the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, they stood atop the podium.

Paris 2024

Paris 2024 would be Mackenzie’s first Olympic Games, but luckily for her, Vincent was there to help ease anxiety and set expectations.

“You build it up in your head for your whole life, your whole career,” Vincent said. “I think [that] me having that experience and knowing the nerves and knowing to stay focused and stick to the plan helped us keep cool as a team. We tried to be cool as a cucumber.”

They kept things lowkey at their satellite village east of Paris proper. When asked about her Olympic experience, one of the first things that jumps to Vincent’s mind is the daily trips with a teammate to buy a pastry from a local bakery–a small daily ritual to treat themselves to a bit of the Paris experience each day, even outside of the city. They’d watch the Games on TV to stay in touch with Team Canada without getting overstimulated or stressed out.

Sprint canoe involves racing twice in one day–often with only 90 minutes in between. Heats and quarterfinals happen on the same day, followed by semifinals and finals on another. Paddlers have to give enough to make it to the next round, but not so much that to take away from their next performance. The duo practiced time trials 90 minutes apart for a year leading into the Games, to simulate the Olympic experience.

Vincent likes to keep things light before races, chatting with those around her. Mackenzie’s pre-race routine also fits the bill of keeping things light, but with a bit more specificity to it.

“I will hum Taylor Swift in my head before we start to not think about the race and get too nervous,” she says.

The song of choice for Paris 2024? “Fresh Out The Slammer.” Perhaps not the first thing that pops into your head when you think of a pump-up song, but hey, whatever works–the Canadian duo got things rolling at Paris 2024 by setting an Olympic Best time of 1:54.16 in their first round heat. 

Once they advanced through the semifinals, the pair had an hour and a half to gather themselves for the final. We asked Mackenzie, who is a dietetics student, what the snack was between races, figuring she would have a very strategic answer.

“I think one Ritz cracker, one piece of chocolate, and one of the little gummy energy chews,” she said with a laugh. “It was all I could get down because I was so nervous!”

Fuelled by all the most important food groups, Mackenzie and Vincent lined up in front of 20,000 fans for the final–something that rarely happens for paddlers and was a distinct difference from Vincent’s last Olympic experience at Tokyo 2020. 

Off the start, China jumped out to the lead, but MacKenzie and Vincent were not far behind. At the midway mark, the Canadian boat was in second, just ahead of Poland. But in the last 100 metres, it was the Ukrainian duo who really picked up their pace, moving from sixth place at 250 metres to get the nose of their boat across the finish line just ahead MacKenzie and Vincent.

In a photo finish, the Canadians took bronze in 1:54.36, missing out on the silver medal by just 0.06 of a second.

Not done yet

But it wasn’t pure celebration time for Vincent quite yet, as she still had to double back to race the C-1 200m the next day. Competing in more than one event requires additional foresight to the little things–including making sure that you’re recovering with more fuel than a single Ritz cracker.

And according to Vincent, everything tastes better immediately after winning an Olympic medal.

“Our support staff made me a sandwich and put it in my podium kit. So I’m literally putting my podium outfit on while eating this baguette with meat and cheese. I’m sitting there going, ‘oh yeah, this is the best-tasting sandwich I’ve ever had!’”

Buoyed by a great sandwich and a standing ovation on the Olympic podium, Vincent’s positive mood rolled over to the next morning, when she would race again.

“I woke up and I just knew I could have a great day out there,” Vincent said.

Sunny. No wind. Great vibes from standing on the podium the day before. There’s not really much more that a paddler could ask for. But then Vincent beat the defending Olympic champion in the semifinal, which made for another additional confidence boost.

Canada was sharing a boat bay with New Zealand during the Games, meaning that before her own race, Vincent had a front row seat to Kiwi kayaking legend Lisa Carrington’s pre-race preparation.

“You’re just watching the greatest of all time be chill and funny, so that sort of kept my mind thinking, ‘hey, that’s how she’s acting…and everyone knows she’s going to win!’”

But then there’s that moment when 20,000 spectators get completely silent as your race is about to start, and things don’t feel quite so chill and funny anymore.

“That’s when you’re like: ‘yeah, this is the most terrifying moment of my life…’”

Vincent knows she’s more of a finisher than a starter, claiming that she’s never in first place within the first 50m of a 200m race. She also paddles on the left, meaning that during the final, she had no perception of where her closest competitor–Team USA’s defending Olympic champion Nevin Harrison–was throughout the race. She could only get some sense of her placement in relation to Cuban athlete Yarisleidis Cirilo.

“I had no clue what was happening. But I knew if I was ahead of the Cuban, she was one of the best. She was the world champion last year. So I knew I should be in a good position, unless the sky is falling.”

Vincent and Harrison crossed the finish line imperceptibly close to one another–a photo finish. Vincent provided the behind-the-scenes context.

“So what happens is there’s actually a screen that faces the water where we are, so nobody else sees that. And Canada popped up….and then it went away! So I was like ‘Oh no, don’t do that. That can’t be good.’”

But then Canada popped up again. Gold by one-one hundredth of a second.

“It felt like a lifetime. I aged three years,” she added with a laugh.

Vincent roared with delight, gesturing for the crowd to cheer. What she didn’t realize was that there was a delay between the screen she was seeing and the ones facing the crowd. Seconds later, the Canadian cheer section exploded. The accomplishment marked Canada’s first ever Olympic gold medal in any women’s canoe or kayak event.

So, once again, Vincent pulled on her podium kit (no mention of a sandwich this time). While grabbing her change of clothes, it occurs to her that since she has her phone now, she could look up how fast the race was–a fact she is still currently unaware of. 

“I’m like wait, wait, wait–I need to see how fast that was.”

And so, instead of having the best sandwich of her life, Katie Vincent got to find out that she had set a world record. 

And this time, when she stands at the top of the podium there’s no deja vu at all–no, this feeling is brand, brand new.

74% of Team Canada athletes who medalled have received support from the Canadian Olympic Foundation thanks to the generosity of donors across the country.

Despite our best efforts, many Team Canada athletes don’t have all the funding they need, to cover everything from training, coaching, mental health supports, competition costs, or equipment. 

Team Canada’s achievements at Paris 2024 are a testament to the impact of donor support. Donor investment in an athlete’s Olympic journey provides the key resources needed to propel them over the finish line – and inspire our nation.

Congratulations to the entire Canadian Olympic team, including the #Paris2024 medallists who have received support from the COF thanks to donors:

• Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, and Brendon Rodney, men’s 4x100m relay (GOLD), Tokyo 2020 Malaviya Award (2021)

• Camryn Rogers, women’s hammer throw (GOLD), Great to Gold program (2024)

• Ethan Katzberg, men’s hammer throw (GOLD), Great to Gold program (2024)

• Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie, women’s C-2 500m canoe sprint (BRONZE), women’s C-1 200m canoe sprint (GOLD) (Katie), Murphy Family Award (2023)(Katie), Great to Gold program (2024), NextGen athlete (2022) (Sloan)

• Josh Liendo, men’s 100m butterfly (SILVER), NextGen athlete (2018-2022), 2024 Great to Gold program (2024)

• Maude Charron, women’s 59kg weightlifting (SILVER), Tokyo 2020 Malaviya Award (2021), Murphy Family Award (2023)

• Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, women’s beach volleyball (SILVER), Murphy Family Award (2021)(Melissa), Great to Gold program (2024)

• The women’s eight rowing team (Abby Dent, Caileigh Filmer, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Kristen Kit, Maya Meschkuleit, Sydney Payne, Jessica Sevick, Kristina Walker, Avalon Wasteneys) (SILVER), Great to Gold program (2024)

• The women’s rugby sevens team (Olivia Apps, Fancy Bermudez, Alysha Corrigan, Caroline Crossley, Chloe Daniels, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Piper Logan, Carissa Norsten, Taylor Perry, Krissy Scurfield, Florence Symonds, Shalaya Valenzuela, Keyara Wardley, Charity Williams) (SILVER) Great to Gold program (2024)

• Eleanor Harvey, women’s fencing individual foil (BRONZE), Murphy Family Award (2023) and Great to Gold program (2024)

• Felix Auger-Alliasime, tennis mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski (BRONZE), NextGen athlete (2017-2019)

• Kylie Masse, women’s 200m backstroke (BRONZE), Tokyo 2020 Malaviya Award (2021)

• Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens, men’s synchronized 10m platform diving (BRONZE), Bursary Program for Quebec Olympic Athletes (2024) (Nathan), NextGen athlete (2017-2022) (Rylan)

• Skylar Park, women’s 57kg taekwondo (BRONZE), Murphy Family Award (2021,2022) , Great to Gold program (2024)

• Sophiane Methot,women’s trampoline (BRONZE), Great to Gold program (2024)

• Wyatt Sanford, men’s 63.5kg boxing (BRONZE), Great to Gold program (2024)

Every Team Canada Paris 2024 medallist will receive a Team Canada Podium Award of $5,000 per medal earned, funded by the Malaviya Foundation. In addition, they will receive a portion of the Tania Esakin Fund.

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.

Phil Wizard became the world’s first breaking Olympic champion, Katie Vincent set a world best time to take gold in the women’s C-1 200m, and Marco Arop set a North American record to take silver in the men’s 800m. What a day for Team Canada.

Here’s what else you need to know.

Paris 2024 Competition Schedule

Breaking

Team Canada’s Phil Wizard is the first-ever Olympic champion in breaking! The Canadian b-boy won all three rounds of the final against the home crowd favourite, French b-boy Dany Dann.

READ: Phil Wizard dances to the top of the podium in breaking’s Olympic debut

Canoe Sprint

Just a day after bringing home bronze in the C-2 500m with Sloan Mackenzie, Katie Vincent doubled back to take gold in the women’s C-1 200m. In a nail biter of a photo finish, Vincent emerged victorious by one-one hundredth of a second over American Nevin Harrison. Vincent’s time of 44.12 marks a new world best in the event.

READ: Vincent accomplishes dream of becoming an Olympic champion in canoe sprint

Michelle Russell finished 8th in the final of the women’s K-1 500m with a time of 1:53.83. Riley Melanson placed sixth in the C Final of the same event.

Athletics

Marco Arop stormed his way to a silver medal in the men’s 800m, setting a new North American record along the way.

READ: Marco Arop takes silver medal in men’s 800m

Cameron Levins and Rory Linkletter raced from Hotel de Ville through the scenic streets of Paris and back to Les Invalides in the men’s marathon. Levins finished in 36th place with a time of 2:11.56, while Linkletter finished in 47th with a time of 2:13.09.

Thomas Fafard finished 22nd in the men’s 5000m final with a time of 13:49.69.

Team Canada’s women’s 4x400m relay team of Zoe Sherar, Savannah Sutherland, Kyra Constantine and Lauren Gale finished sixth in the final, running a time of 3:22.01.

Diving

Rylan Wiens finished seventh overall in the men’s 10m platform event, while teammate Nathan Zsombor-Murray finished in tenth.

READ: Wiens, Zsombor-Murray soak in Olympic experience on final day of diving at Paris 2024

Paris 2024 Olympic Games Information Hub

Artistic Swimming

Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau finished ninth overall in the women’s duet. The Canadian duo placed fifteenth in the technical routine and third in the free routine with a combined score of 492.4270 points.

Wrestling

Ana Godinez Gonzalez made it through the repechage into a bronze medal match in the women’s freestyle 62kg event, but fell to Norway’s Grace Bullen to finish tied for fifth.

Justina Di Stasio fell to Yasemin Adar Yigit of Turkey in the women’s freestyle 76 kg 1/8 final. Amar Dhesi lost his match with Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan in the men’s 125kg repechage.

Water Polo

Team Canada lost 19-10 to Team Greece in the women’s 7th-8th classification game. The Canadians finished 8th overall in the Paris 2024 women’s tournament.

Golf

Brooke Henderson continued her late charge in Saturday’s final round, climbing as close as two shots back of second place. She closed out the round with a 1-under-par 71 to finish solo 13th for the tournament, 10 strokes back of gold medallist Lydia Ko of New Zealand.

Alena Sharp shot a 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for 42nd at 9 over par.

Track Cycling

Mathias Guillemette and Michael Foley placed 13th in the men’s madison event.

Kelsey Mitchell was defeated in the quarterfinals of the women’s sprint event. She will compete in the 5th-8th classification tomorrow. Nick Wammes and James Hedgcock advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s keirin by way of the repechage heats.

Vincent’s gold in the C-1 200m – the third Olympic medal of her career and second in as many days – is significant for a number of reasons. Most notably, it’s Canada’s first ever Olympic gold medal in any women’s canoe or kayak event.

The gold also pushed Canada’s collective medal count over the tally from Tokyo 2020 for both gold and total medals, making it the country’s most successful Olympic Summer Games other than Los Angeles 1984, which was boycotted by the Soviet Union and 13 other countries.

Vincent also set a new world best time in the distance, as she crossed the line with a time of 44.12 seconds. 

And more importantly for Vincent, she has accomplished her lifelong goal.

“I have always wanted to be an Olympic champion since I was a kid. I can’t believe it right now. I worked so hard for this, (through) so much adversity. I am so grateful to be here.”

The gold medal comes a day after Vincent won her second consecutive Olympic bronze in the C-2 500m, this one alongside partner Sloan MacKenzie.

READ: Vincent and MacKenzie relish in journey of back-to-back bronzes for Team Canada

The motivation for Saturday’s solo race? The 28-year-old said she didn’t need another bronze.

“I honestly got back to my hotel room yesterday, I said ‘Okay, that’s enough bronze medals for one cabinet,’” she said.

“So I just really wanted to come in today and just try and improve that off yesterday. I think I’m still shaking a little bit. I mean, that’s the fastest I’ve ever gone so to do a [personal best], and an Olympic champion – I don’t have any words right now.”

Three years ago, Vincent raced in her first Olympic Games at the age of 25. In the C-1 200m, she won her first round heat and placed third in the semifinal, which gave her a chance to race for a medal in the A Final. She ended up finishing eighth out of eight paddlers in the final, as the gold medal went to American Nevin Harrison.

Just over a month later, Vincent proved herself to be a threat for the throne, as she became the world champion in the C-1 200m, winning gold at the 2021 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.

“I think overall I just improved a lot,” Vincent said after finishing first in her 200m heat on Thursday. “I think we were in a really tough place as a team (in Tokyo), just off of the water we had a lot of stuff going on. So, coming into this Olympics we had a lot more positive vibes and energy.”

Good vibes lead to good results – Vincent qualified directly for the C-1 200m semifinal with her opening heat time of 47.22 seconds. In the semifinal round early Saturday, she had the fastest time of the 16 qualified racers.

She had her sights set on one shade of medal in the final, and immediately pushed into the top three with Harrison and Cuba’s Yarisleidis Cirilo.

Harrison, eager to defend her Olympic gold, was pushing ahead of the Canadian with 50 metres to go.

“I just found another gear (after Friday’s bronze) and dug a little deeper in that last 50m,” she said. “You have to hope for the best when you cross the finish line. I ended up on the lucky side of a close race.”

It look as though Vincent had passed Harrison in the final stretch, but one last stroke from the American made for a photo finish for first. The two competitors knelt in their boats for about a minute, anxiously awaiting the results before they appeared on screen – by one-one hundredth of a second, Vincent won gold for Canada.

“It was crazy. I was just waiting and then Canada popped up No.1,” said Vincent, who raised her fist in celebration once the result became official. “It is surreal.”

Not only did Vincent beat out Harrison for gold, she broke the Olympic best time that Harrison had set in Tokyo (44.93 seconds).

It’s also become a tradition that Vincent’s medals mean a little extra something for all of Team Canada. When Vincent won her bronze medal with Laurence Vincent Lapointe at Tokyo 2020, it was the 23rd for Canada, surpassing the total of 22 from Atlanta 1996 and Rio 2016.

With Vincent’s gold today, Canada has surpassed the Tokyo tally of 24. It’s another massive achievement for Canada’s canoe program, and Team Canada as a whole.

“That was special. It is a moment I have been dreaming of since I was a young athlete,” Vincent said.

“My family was there which was super exciting, to get to see them. To celebrate with so many people and so many Canadians in the stands, that is something I will remember forever.”

In a photo finish, she defeated American Nevin Harrison by just one-one hundredth (0.01) of a second, achieving a World Best time of 44.12 seconds. This is the first ever Olympic gold medal for Canada in a women’s canoe or kayak event.

Coming from behind at the finish, Vincent executed her final shoot just perfectly to get the nose of her boat across the line first. Cuba’s Yarisleidia Cirilo Duboys took bronze in 44.36.

In her Olympic debut, Sophia Jensen placed sixth.

The gold medal for Vincent follows the bronze medal she won alongside Sloan MacKenzie in the women’s C-2 500m. Vincent now has three career Olympic medals, having also won C-2 500m bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Vincent was the world champion in the C-1 200m in 2021, but did not compete in it at last year’s world championships. She had placed eighth in the C-1 200m final in her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. This past May, Vincent won C-1 200m gold in her only ICF World Cup appearance of the season.

Canada has been represented on the women’s C-1 200m podium at both Olympic Games in which it has been included. Laurence Vincent Lapointe won silver at Tokyo 2020 where women’s canoe events were included for the first time. Vincent’s World Best time erases that of Vincent Lapointe, who had recorded 44.50 seconds back in 2018.

Here’s what you don’t want to miss on the penultimate day of Paris 2024.

Team Canada Athletes Competing Today

Athletics

You know that the Olympic Games are coming to a close when we start talking about marathons. The Paris 2024 men’s marathon will begin at 8:00 a.m. local / 2:00 a.m. ET. Team Canada will be represented by Cameron Levins and Rory Linkletter. Levins holds the North American record in the marathon, with a personal best time of 2:05.36.

Marco Arop will kick off Team Canada’s evening on the track in the men’s 800m final. The reigning world champion in the event will compete at 7:15 p.m. local / 1:15 p.m. ET.

Just over half an hour later, Thomas Fafard will represent Team Canada in the men’s 5000m final. Then at 9:14 p.m. local / 3:14 p.m. ET, Canada’s women’s 4x400m relay team will also race for a medal in the final.

Paris 2024 Competition Schedule

Breaking

Team Canada’s first Olympic breaking athlete will take to the floor on Day 15 of Paris 2024. 

B-Boy Phil Wizard (Philip Kim) will face off first against France’s Dany Dann at 4:11 p.m. local / 10:11 a.m. ET, then against Kuzya of the Ukraine, and finally against J Attack of Australia in the B-Boys round robin Group B. Competition will continue throughout the evening with the podium being decided in battles starting at 9:19 p.m. local / 3:19 p.m. ET.

Diving

Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray will compete in the men’s 10m platform semifinal at 10:00 a.m. local / 4:00 a.m. ET, in the hopes of moving on to the final at 3:00 p.m. local / 9:00 a.m. ET. The top 12 divers in the semifinal move on to the final.

Wiens finished third in the preliminary round, while Zsombor-Murray placed 10th. The Canadian duo secured a bronze medal in the 10m synchro event earlier in the Games.

READ: Diving duo ‘over the moon’ with historic medal in men’s 10m synchro

Artistic Swimming

Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau will take to the pool to perform their free routine, the second and final routine in the duet event. Artistic swimming competition begins at 7:30 p.m. local / 1:30 p.m. ET.

Canoe Sprint

Riley Melanson and Michelle Russell will compete in the women’s K-1 500m semifinals, which begin at 10:30 a.m. local time / 4:30 a.m. ET.

Sophia Jensen and Katie Vincent will compete in the women’s C-1 200m semifinals. Vincent has already stepped on the podium at Paris 2024, taking bronze in the women’s C-2 500m with teammate Sloan Mackenzie.

READ: MacKenzie and Vincent paddle to C-2 500m bronze at Paris 2024

Golf

Team Canada golfers Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp move into their fourth and final round at Le Golf National. Henderson sits in a tie for 13th at 2-under par, while Sharp is tied for 44th.

Wrestling

Ana Godinez Gonzalez will take on Kristzta Incze of Romania in the women’s freestyle 62kg repechage. Amar Dhesi will face Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan in the men’s freestyle 125kg repechage. Both aim to move into a bronze medal match.

Justina Di Stasio will take to the mat for the first time in the women’s freestyle 76kg 1/8 final, taking on Yasemin Adar Yigit of Turkey.

Water Polo

Team Canada will take on Team Greece in the women’s classification round to decide seventh and eighth place. The game will take place at 9:00 a.m. local / 3:00 a.m. ET.

Cycling Track

Action begins at the velodrome at 5:00 p.m. local time / 11:00 a.m. ET. Kelsey Mitchell will race in the 1/8 final of the women’s sprint event, for which she is the reigning Olympic champion.

James Hedgcock and Nick Wammes will compete in the first round of the men’s kierin, while Mathias Guillemette and Michael Foley will take on the men’s madison.

Paris 2024 Info

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