Weekend Roundup: 1 world breaking title, 2 straight titles for Félix, and 3 medals at Skate America
Team Canada had a lot to celebrate from a fall weekend that saw some winter sports get underway while some summer sports were still going strong.
Phil Wizard won Canada’s first gold medal at the WDSF World Breaking Championships, Félix Auger-Aliassime kept up his winning ways, Noah Porter MacLennan and Jasmine Baird enjoyed big starts to their big air seasons, and Kyle Reyes got a taste of judo Grand Slam gold.
Plus, find out which Canadian figure skaters landed on the ISU Grand Prix podium for the first time during the series opener at Skate America.
Here’s a look at what you may have missed:
Breaking: Phil Wizard takes the stage! 🔥
Phil Wizard won the B-Boys gold medal at the WDSF World Breaking Championships in Seoul, South Korea on Saturday. He defeated Japanese breaker Shigekix for the top spot. In three action-packed rounds, Wizard took the first round 8-1 before Shigekix won the second 6-3. But the Canadian took the final round 9-0 to claim his first world title. He had been the runner-up in 2021.
READ: Phil Wizard claims breaking world title
Breaking will make its Olympic debut at Paris 2024 after being included at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Tennis: ✌️ Two titles in two weeks for Félix 🏆🏆
A week after being crowned champion in Florence, Félix Auger-Aliassime was back on top as his stellar fall indoor hard court season continued. This time he won top honours at the European Open, an ATP 250 event in Antwerp, Belgium. In his 12th career ATP final on Sunday, the Canadian captured his third ATP singles title after taking down world no. 36, American Sebastian Korda in two sets (6-3, 6-4).
READ: Félix Auger-Aliassime wins back-to-back ATP Tour titles
Figure Skating: Triple podium triumph at Skate America
Canadian figure skaters came away from the first ISU Grand Prix stop of the season with a silver and two bronze medals. In the pairs competition at Skate America, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps captured the silver medal. They were joined on the podium by teammates Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier who won bronze. Both teams were competing in their first Grand Prix event.
READ: Silver and bronze beginnings for Canadian figure skaters at ISU Grand Prix Series
On Sunday, ice dancers Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac added a second bronze medal for Canada. This marked the first international medal for the married couple since they decided to skate for Canada internationally in June 2021. In the men’s event, Roman Sadovsky and Wesley Chiu finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
READ: What to watch in figure skating, speed skating, curling and women’s hockey in 2022-23
The next stop of the ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating Series will be Skate Canada International, to be held October 28-30 in Mississauga, Ontario.
Big Air: Canadians land on the podium at season opener
It was an explosive start to the FIS World Cup seasons for freestyle skiing and snowboard this weekend at the Big Air Chur Festival in Switzerland.
READ: Noah Porter MacLennan soars to World Cup silver
Noah Porter MacLennan claimed silver in men’s ski big air on Friday as the the 19-year-old accumulated 180.00 points to finish behind only Norway’s Birk Ruud — the reigning Olympic champion. This is Porter MacLennan’s first World Cup podium. Olivia Asselin finished fourth in the women’s ski big air event.
Then on Saturday evening, Jasmine Baird placed third in the women’s snowboard big air event. She posted an overall score of 131.25 to secure the final spot on the podium.
Judo: First taste of gold 🥇 for Kyle Reyes 🥋
In his 12th career Grand Slam appearance, Kyle Reyes climbed to the top step of the podium for the first time. On the final day of competition at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, the Canadian judoka was crowed champion in the -100kg weight category. He was accompanied on the podium by his teammate Shady El-Nahas, who won bronze.
READ: Reyes is golden, El-Nahas takes bronze at Judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi
Swimming: 8 medals in Berlin 💦
It was a successful weekend for Canadian swimmers at the FINA Swimming World Cup in Berlin, which take place in a 25m pool. On Friday, three Canadians reached the podium. A double podium in the women’s 50m backstroke saw Kylie Masse claim gold and Ingrid Wilm win silver. Javier Acevedo added a bronze in the men’s 100m individual medley.
On Saturday, Acevedo returned to the podium by finishing third in the men’s 50m backstroke event with a time of 23.24 seconds which broke the Canadian record. Bailey Andison captured bronze in the women’s 200m individual medley.
Canadians picked up three more medals on the final day. Once again landing on the podium together, Masse and Wilm took second and third respectfully in the women’s 200m backstroke. Acevedo finished third in the men’s 100m backstroke and broke his second Canadian record of the weekend, swimming a time of 50.16 seconds.
The FINA World Cup comes to Canada this weekend, October 28-30, with many of the country’s top names — including Masse, Summer McIntosh, Maggie Mac Neil, and Joshua Liendo — set to compete in Toronto.
Athletics: National half-marathon record for Flanagan
Ben Flanagan ran a national record of 1:01:00 at the Valencia Half-Marathon in Spain on Sunday, taking eight seconds off the previous mark. In just his third official attempt at the distance, Flanagan achieved his personal best by more than 38 seconds as he finished 18th overall. Flanagan is the reigning Canadian champion at 10k and 5k. He beat fellow Canadian Cam Levins — who is the national record holder in the marathon — by five seconds.
