DE GRASSE AND BROWN ON TO 200-METRE FINAL
Canadian Andre De Grasse sealed his ticket to the 200-metre final in emphatic fashion on Tuesday as he won his semi-final heat in a time of 19.73. De Grasse set a new Canadian record and a personal best after turning on the heat in the stretch. De Grasse will be joined in Wednesday’s final by fellow Canadian Aaron Brown, who ran a season best to win his own semi-final heat in 19.99.
TWO MOVING ON TO 5,000-METRE FINAL
Four days after finishing sixth in the men’s 10,000 metres, Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed was second in his heat of the men’s 5,000, the distance in which he raced to bronze at the 2019 world championships. The 30-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., hung near the back of the pack for the first half before taking the lead to push the pace. He finished in 13:38.96. Justyn Knight of Toronto cruised to third in the other 5,000 heat in 13:30.22, setting up what could be an exciting final on Friday.
TERAUCHI’S MOMENT
Ken Terauchi climbed out of the water after his last dive and bowed, soaking up a standing ovation. The Japanese diver didn’t win a medal at his home Olympics, but he did make the final of the men’s three-metre springboard in his sixth Games. That was a victory in itself. Four days shy of his 41st birthday, Terauchi finished last among 12 divers on Tuesday. He was trying to become the first Japanese diver to earn an Olympic medal. His six Olympics are a record for a Japanese diver.
CANADIAN UPS AND DOWNS
Camryn Rogers of Richmond, B.C., impressed in her Olympic debut. She finished fifth in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 74.35 metres. Kyra Constantine of Toronto clinched a spot in the women’s 400-metre semi-finals. Constantine was fifth in her heat, but her time of 51.69 was fast enough to advance. There was less success for the men’s volleyball team, which lost 3-0 to the Russians in the quarter-finals. The Canadian women’s water polo team didn’t fare any better, falling to the mighty U.S. squad in the quarter-finals by a score of 16-5.
SPLISH SPLASH
Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan gave China another 1-2 finish in Olympic diving, claiming gold and silver in men’s three-metre springboard. Xie broke down in tears when the scores for his final dive were posted, a string of 9.0s and 9.5s that clinched the victory with 558.75 points. Wang came over to give his teammate a hug. The biggest drama was for the silver, but Wang nailed his final dive to finish with 534.90 and hold off Jack Laugher of Britain.
– The Canadian Press, The Associated Press