Weekend Roundup: Dynamic worlds debut for Vallée; Arop & Mitton keep on rising
Some rising stars of Team Canada were showing their stuff on the world stage over the last few days.
Learn more about the diver who became a double medallist in her world championship debut and the track and field athletes who put themselves among the top three in the world, plus a few other notable results.
Mia Vallée grabs two medals at FINA World Championships 💦
It was a big week for 21-year-old diver Mia Vallée in her debut at the FINA World Championships.
She earned medals in both of her individual events, highlighted by her silver in the women’s 3m springboard final on Sunday. Sitting in third place ahead of her final dive, she climbed to the second step of the podium with her total score of 329.00. That put her between two Chinese divers as Chen Yiwei claimed gold with 366.90 points and Chang Yani took bronze with 325.85 points.
READ: Mia Vallée jumped back on the podium with silver at the FINA World Championships
That had followed Vallée’s bronze medal in the 1m springboard, an event that is not on the Olympic program. She finished off the worlds in Budapest with a fifth-place finish in the 3m synchro event with teammate Margo Erlam.
Canada won three diving medals in Budapest. Earlier in the week Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray claimed bronze in the men’s 10m synchro event, making history with Canada’s first ever world championship medal in the event. They both went on to be finalists in the individual 10m platform event as Zsombor-Murray placed seventh with Wiens in ninth.
READ: Wiens and Zsombor-Murray dive to bronze at the FINA World Championships
Athletics: Mitton makes Diamond League breakthrough 🔥
Sarah Mitton continues to perform at a high level this season and now she has her first career Diamond League medal to show for it. She finished second in the women’s shot put event in Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday. Her throw of 19.90m came just five days after she set the national record 20.33 at the Canadian championships.
READ: Mitton secures her first Diamond League podium in Stockholm
Mitton came within a centimetre of beating the 20-metre mark one more time on Sunday at the Pre-Worlds Track & Field Invitational in Edmonton. Her 19.99m throw was her second best of the season. She remains the number three woman in the world this season in shot put.
Moving into the top three in the world in his event was Marco Arop. In his hometown, he ran a time of 1:43.61 which is third-fastest this season in the men’s 800m.
Mitton and Arop are among the 54 athletes who will represent Canada at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon which take place July 15-24.
Decenzo reaches final of first Olympic skateboarding qualifying event
The road to Paris 2024 began in Rome for some of the world’s best skateboarders. Ryan Decenzo was the top Canadian with his seventh place finish in the men’s event of the World Street Skateboarding Pro Tour. He was the only Canadian to make a final. Micky Papa had placed 15th in the semifinal.
This is the first event from which points can be earned towards the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings. In two years time, those rankings will determine which skaters compete at Paris 2024.
