Canadian Roundup: World champions & broken records
From Olympic champion Derek Drouin‘s new world decathlon record in high jump, to Team Gushue’s world championship victory on home soil, Canadians dominated over the weekend.
Here are the details.
Curling
It was mission accomplished for Team Canada at the men’s curling world championships. Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker went undefeated en route to their gold medal in front of Canadian fans in Edmonton. The victory was extra sweet for Gushue, who became the first skip to win world juniors, world championship and Olympic gold. Longtime third Nichols now also owns all three titles.
Ice hockey
Read: Team Canada captures silver at women’s worlds
Canada’s women’s ice hockey team finished second at the world championships in Michigan. Once again the world championship final saw long-time North American rivals facing off. The score was tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation time, sending the gold medal final into overtime, where the Canadians fell to Team USA 3-2.
Athletics
Two athletics Olympians wrote their names in the record books over the weekend. Olympic champion Derek Drouin registered a new decathlon world record in high jump, leaping 2.28m in California. Pole vaulter Alysha Newman smashed her Canadian record, soaring 4.71m.
Diving
Read: Canadians collect four Grand Prix medals in Quebec
Canadian divers picked up four medals at the FINA Grand Prix in Gatineau Quebec. Rio 2016 Olympian Pamela Ware clinched the nation’s first medal on Saturday with a bronze medal in the women’s 3m springboard, at her first FINA competition since undergoing surgery for a stress fracture.
Swimming
Read: Team Canada named for 2017 worlds
Canada’s Rio 2016 swimmers were back in the pool over the weekend looking to punch their tickets to the 2017 world championships. A total of 32 athletes – 20 women, 12 men – qualified for the competition in Budapest. Rio 2016 bronze medallist Kylie Masse also clocked the fastest 100m backstroke time in the world this year, touching the wall just 0.09s off the world record. Sydney Pickrem lowered her 200m IM Canadian record to two minutes 9.56s. Javier Acevedo raced to the third fastest time in the world (53.64s) 100m backstroke.