Are you surprised Alysha Newman won an Olympic medal Wednesday night?
Two days ago, Newman herself said “They always say there’s always an upset and there’s a surprise, and I’m feeling like I could be the surprise.”
Newman knew. She wasn’t surprised.
“I just feel so honored to be the first pole vaulter to bring home an Olympic medal for Canada. I think that has been my goal and everyone was saying, if there’s someone to do it, it’s going to be me. I’m so, so happy I lived up to that expectation,” Newman said.
Now she’s the Paris 2024 women’s pole vault bronze medallist – Canada’s first Olympic pole vault medallist since 1908 and Canada’s first ever Olympic women’s pole vault medallist.
Newman didn’t exactly squeak onto the podium, either. She set a new Canadian record of 4.85 metres.
It was never an easy road to this moment. From the highs of Commonwealth Games champion and Pan Am Games medallist, to the struggles with injury and confidence, Newman earned this podium with more than just a series of mind-blowing jumps. She earned with perseverance.
Desgagnés Completes Steeplechase Final
In his Olympic debut, Jean-Simon Desgagnés lined up with the best steeplechasers in the world and hung with them until the end.
After 3000 grueling metres of running, clearing barriers and navigating the water pit, Desgagnés took home a 13th place finish and a time of 8:19.31.
“It’s the Olympic final. So I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, but there are things I have to work on to be in the best in the world, and it’s a good result, but I want the number to be faster next time,” Desgagnés said. “Now when I come to a big championship like the Olympics, the World Championships, my goal is to be part of the best. I’m not here just to compete. I’m here to be in the final, I’m here to be in the top 10. So it’s a confident booster, but it’s now the line that I’ve put on myself.”
Dunfee and Lundman’s Historic Walk
Evan Dunfee and Olivia Lundman competed in the first ever Olympic Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay. The Canadian duo finished 20th with a new Canadian Record time of 3:04:57.
Dunfee led off for Team Canada, completing the first leg of the race in a time of 43:41. Lundman took over for the second leg, meeting back up with her teammate/coach 47:23 later. Dunfee was even quicker in Leg 3 of the race, finishing his day of racing with a time of 39:51. Lundman took it home, crossing the line after the 4th and final leg in a time of 51:02, also incurring a three-minute penalty.
“We said we were going to go out there, and give it our all. Top 20 was our goal, so we went in there and we fought really hard and we were able to get that 20th position and we broke our Canadian record from back in April,” Lundman said. “It was so surreal to let it sink in as you’re racing that you’re in front of the Eiffel Tower and you’ve got thousands of people cheering you on. This is a beautiful venue and not even just the people here, but we have thousands of people supporting us back home.”
“Top 20 doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but it means something to us because what we came out here and said that we could do and just to see how hard she dug to get to that arbitrary marker we set for ourselves makes me so damn proud,” Dunfee said. “This will drive that motivation for the next four years towards LA so that we’re on that start line in the individual 20 km fighting for top eights, fighting for medals. That’s the big goal.”
Arop Takes the Next Step
Reigning world 800 metre champion Marco Arop was in fine form in the opening round of the men’s 800 metres. Arop was 2nd in his qualifying heat with a time of 1:45.74 – good enough to earn his spot in the semi-final on Friday.
Hurdling Into The Next Round
Mariam Abdul-Rashid book her spot in the women’s 100 metre hurdles semi-final with a 5th place finish and a time of 12.80 seconds in her qualifying heat.
“The crowd was loud and I love that. I’m happy to have as many French girls in my race because the crowd just gets louder and that’s what I’ve been dreaming of,” Adbul-Rashid said. “So I just knew if I could get it with the best of them em and do a clean race, it would be okay.”
Michelle Harrison will proceed to the repechage round after finishing 8th in her heat with a time of 13.40 seconds.
“I’m happy to have a second chance. I’m just coming off the stomach flu, so I think another day will help try to regain my nervous system and my strength. That was very apparently missing today,” Harrison said.
Fafard Advances
Thomas Fafard made it through his crowded 5000 metre heat to book a spot in the event final, clocking in with a time of 14:09.37 to take 8th place and securing that last qualification spot.
Defending Olympic silver medallist Mohammed Ahmed was not so lucky. He got tangled up with a group of runner and fell just before the last lap. He wans not able to recover in time to move into a qualification spot, ultimately finishing 16th with a time of 14:15.76.
Ben Flanagan was 17th in his 5000 metres heat, finishing with a time of 13:59.23. He will not advance to the final.
De Grasse, Brown and Rodney Knocked Out of Semis
Andre De Grasse won’t defend his Olympic 200 metres title in Paris. The six-time Olympic medallist was 3rd in his semi-final, with a time of 20.45 seconds and will not advance to the final.
His 4×100 metre relay teammates Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney were also unable to qualify for the final. Brown clocked in with a time of 20.57 seconds to finish 7th in his semi, while Rodney ran a time of 20.59 seconds to finish 5th in his semi.
“I can still pop it off with the best of them, but I just didn’t have enough to bring it home today and it sucks, but it is what it is. We still got a relay to do, so I’m going to bounce back and give my all on that,” Brown said.
“The repechage kind of took a little out of my legs, so it was a little harder than I thought it would be. Today would’ve been the day to make the finals, so I’m disappointed in that. But we move forward and I’m grateful to make the semi at the Olympic Games, finishing the top 20 in the world,” Rodney said.
Canadian Trio Miss Out on 1500 Metre Semis
Lucia Stafford, Simone Plourde and Kate Current competed in the women’s 1500 metres repechage round, vying for a spot in the semi-final. Unfortunately, they were not able to advance.
Stafford was 5th in her heat, clocking in with a time of 4:04.26. Plourde was 6th in her heat in a time of 4:08.49. Current was 10th in her heat in 4:08.91.
“Today my goal was just to go for the win and run a race I am going to be proud of and to be brave, and I know I did that,” Stafford said. “I knew it was risky and I knew these other girls were good and I was putting myself in a vulnerable spot, but you’ve got to do that. I’m proud of the athlete I am and I want more. I’m ready to be one of the best, and I know I can.”
“I’m super proud of myself, honestly. I feel like I executed well, executed the race exactly like I wanted to, was well positioned. I was within myself. I tried not to get too ahead of myself and stayed calm, and when it was ready to switch up the pace, I feel like I did and I followed the pack,” Plourde said.
“I think I got all the nerves out of the way yesterday and today I was just appreciating the environment and appreciating the experience,” Current said. “This is my first Olympics and I think that there’s a lot that I can take away from this and it’s just kind of fueling the fire for not only 2028, but every year until then.”
Tomorrow at Paris 2024
Relay day! Both the men’s and women’s 4×100 metre relay teams are in action Thursday, looking to move on their respective finals.
Sarah Mitton starts her Paris 2024 schedule in women’s shot put qualifying. The reigning world silver medallist is looking to throw in her first Olympic final and that road starts Thursday.
Michelle Harrison races for her spot in the 100 metre hurdles semi-final, while Savanna Sutherland chases her own hurdles history, racing in the women’s 400 metre hurdle final.
Don’t Miss Anything
Watching your athletics team take on the world is serious business.
You need one place that gives you day-by-day Canadian athlete schedules, results in real time, the full Canadian roster and bios, historical stats to help you sound more like an expert, as well as direct access to all your broadcast and streaming options.
Go to our Paris 2024 Homepage, bookmark it, comeback every day and you will be ahead of the Games.
CBC/Radio-Canada’s comprehensive coverage of Paris 2024 will feature live broadcasts from every venue and include every Canadian medal-winning moment, with 22 hours of live television coverage each day and totalling more than 3000 hours of live content available on CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, CBC Gem, CBC’s Paris 2024 website (cbc.ca/paris2024) and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Caroline Sharp
National Teams Communications Specialist
Athletics Canada
WhatsApp: (613) 323-5605 / Cell: (214) 601-8024
E: Caroline.Sharp@athletics.ca