Brandon O'Neill won Canada's first gold medal of the Pan American Games yesterday, while the women's wrestling team was relegated to silver medals at the hands of the dominant Americans.
Later yesterday, Alice Falaiye of Mississauga claimed Canada's second gold medal, winning the women's long jump. The 24-year-old jumped 6.43 metres in the final to get Canada's first Pan Am gold in women's long jump since 1971.
Brad Snyder of Windsor, Ont., won the bronze medal in the men's shot put. The two-time Olympian had a distance of 20.10 metres.
O'Neill, an 18-year-old from Edmonton, won the gymnastics floor event with a score of 9.500, defeating Clayton Strother of the United States and Michael Conceicao of Brazil.
"It's special," O'Neill said of winning Canada's first gold. "Gymnastics is one of the first events of the Games, so maybe if it was later on it would mean a lot more. I'm just happy to get the gold."
Strother and Conceicao were to share silver medals after they finished tied at 9.375 on a bizarre day in the gymnasium. Competition was delayed for 30 minutes because of a judge's dispute over payments.
None of the chaos took away from O'Neill's moment.
"I'm glad I got through it," O'Neill said. "I was really nervous."
Things didn't work out as well on the wrestling mat, as all four Canadians settled for silver medals after losing to Americans.
The only Canadian who came close to winning a gold medal is Tonya Verbeek of Beamsville, Ont., who lost a match 4-3 to Tina George in the 55 kilogram final.
Lindsay Belisle of Burnaby, B.C. (48 kg), Viola Yanik of Saskatoon (63 kg) and Ohenewa Akuffo of Brampton, Ont. (72 kg) lost their finals by pin.
On the shooting range, Cynthia Meyer of Bowen Island, B.C., won a silver medal in women's double trap shooting, while Susan Nattrass of Edmonton took the bronze.
American Kimberly Rhode won the gold medal with 140 points. Meyer had 133 and Nattrass 114.
Meyer, who also won a silver medal on Monday, was the only one celebrating, as her silver clinched an Olympic berth.
Nattrass, who had mechanical problems with her guns on Monday, broke down after she missed the chance to qualify for the Athens Games. Her chances of going now are slim.
"I was ready," she said. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."
The seven medals pushed Canada's total to 13 (one gold, nine silver and three bronze).
In the swimming pool, Canada continued to dominate in women's water polo, thrashing Cuba 19-3 behind seven goals from Cora Campbell of Calgary.
Marianne Illing of Ottawa, Sue Gardiner of Vancouver, Marie-Luc Arpin of Saint-Lambert, Que., and Johanne Bégin of Sainte-Foy, Que., each added two goals as the Canadians improved to 2-0 in the round robin.
Andrea Dewar and Ann Dow, both of Montreal, Valerie Dionne of Sainte-Foy and Christi Bardecki of Toronto were Canada's other scorers.
Canada must win the tournament to qualify for the Olympics.
On the water, Canada's lightweight women's double and lightweight men's four crews both posted the fastest times in their events in the Pan Am regatta.
Gen Meredith of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., and Fiona Milne of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., advanced to the final after winning their heat in 7 minutes 23.39 seconds. Cuba was second in 7:32.49 and Mexico third in 7:50.45. Iain Brambell of Brentwood Bay, B.C., Mike Simonson of Calgary, Mike Lewis of Victoria and Chris Davidson of Oakville, Ont., won their heat in 6:22.93.
The men's basketball team can finish no higher than seventh place after an 88-86 loss to Argentina.