Weekend Roundup: Records, first-time victories and Olympic qualification
There were first-time podiums, national records and a Tokyo 2020 qualification this weekend for Team Canada’s athletes.
In case you missed the action, let’s take a look at what happened:
Diving
Team Canada’s diving duo Jennifer Abel and Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu have locked in their spot for Tokyo 2020 in the women’s 3m synchro event.
Their performance on Monday at the FINA World Championships landed them the silver with 342 points.
This podium finish also secured Abel the national record for most medals won by a Canadian at the World Championships.
READ: Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu capture silver and Tokyo 2020 qualification
Judo
On Saturday, Kelita Zupancic defeated Maria Portela of Brazil for the -70kg bronze during the Budapest Grand Prix.
Zupancic, currently ranked 13th in the world, was seen as the underdog in the matchup versus Portela, who is ranked sixth.
READ: Zupancic lands a podium finish second weekend in a row
Wrestling
Wrestling had a strong weekend taking home one gold, one silver and one bronze at the Yasar Dogu tournament in Turkey.
After defeating the second and third world ranks to qualify for the final, Olympic champion Erica Wiebe yet again did not disappoint and claimed the top of the podium in the 76 kg category. Wiebe won 2-1 against Brazilian Aline Da Silva Ferreira.
Danielle Lappage captured silver after battling against Maryia Mamashuk of Belarus in the 68 kg final and Samantha Stewart won the bronze in the 55 kg.
Cycling
For the first time in his career, Sean Fincham reached the podium to claim the bronze at the U23 category at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Les Gets, France on Sunday.
Clocking in with a time of 1:14.08s, Fincham was only seconds behind Romania’s Vlad Dascalu (1:13.22s) and Germany’s Maximillian Brandl (1:13.44s).
READ: Sean Fincham earns first podium finish
Rowing
READ: Canadians row to double bronze at World Rowing Cup
Canada’s women showed how it’s done at the World Rowing Cup in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Sunday. The women’s doubles and women’s eight each picked up a bronze.
In women’s doubles, Andrea Proske and Gabrielle Smith battled through the challenging conditions and finished with a time of 08:03.77s.
The women’s eight crew made up of Madison Mailey, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys, Stephanie Grauer, Christine Roper, Susanne Grainger, Jennifer Martins, Rebecca Zimmerman, and Kristen Kit rowed to third with a time of 06:46.77s.
Swimming
In a tight matchup Canada’s Eric Hedlin raced to a bronze medal in the 5km open water swim on Saturday at the World Aquatics Championship in Gwangju, South Korea.
The 26-year-old had a final time of 53:32.3s, securing his his second world championship medal in this event.
READ: Eric Hedlin swims to bronze at World Aquatics Championship
Tennis
After defeating women’s doubles defending champs Barbora Krejcikova and Kateřina Siniakova (6-1, 3-6, 6-3), Gaby Dabrowski and partner Xu Yifan played in Sunday’s Wimbledon final.
They faced the No. 3-seeded team of Barbora Strycova and Su-Wei Hsieh and unfortunately fell in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.
Despite the disappointing finish, Dabrowski became the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam women’s doubles final in over 30 years.
RELATED: Memorable moments from Wimbledon 2019
Athletics
On Friday, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford raced to third place and smashed the national record at the Diamond League in Monaco.
The Toronto native completed the women’s Brave Like Gabe Mile in 4:17.87s to break Leah Pells’ 1996 record time of 4:23.28s.
This bumped herself to 15th fastest woman in the world to run the outdoor mile.
