Tokyo Olympics Update: Why ‘resilience’ defines Canada’s track-and-field team

Welcome to The Globe’s new pop-up Olympic newsletter. As the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games approach, this newsletter is here to help you make sense of everything, from the ongoing qualifying period to the closing ceremonies.

We’re sending a newsletter every Tuesday and Friday, and then every weekday beginning in mid-July. It will feature original stories and columns from Globe staff, reporting on how Team Canada is taking shape and the effect COVID-19 is having on the Games. Each newsletter will also feature an Olympic moment, providing a snapshot from the archives of an iconic Canadian performance at the Games. To submit an Olympic moment – or provide any feedback – e-mail us at audience@globeandmail.com.

Good afternoon, and welcome to the latest edition of The Globe’s Olympic newsletter. Here’s the latest Olympic news:

‘Resilience’ is catchphrase for Canada’s Tokyo Olympic track-and-field team

Open this photo in gallery:

The world No. 1-ranked decathlete Damian Warner trained in an unheated hockey arena all winter that was so cold some days he couldn’t feel his feet.

Melissa Bishop-Nriagu worked out in her home gym during a two-week quarantine after competing in the U.S.

André De Grasse had to train on a soccer field for weeks after his track in Florida closed for COVID-19 protocols.

The trio headlines a Canadian track-and-field team for the Tokyo Olympics that’s not just one of the most talented ever assembled, but perhaps also the toughest.

“The catchphrase for me is resilience, mental resilience,” said Simon Nathan, Athletics Canada’s high-performance director. “The Canadians have had it as tough as any other country in the world … in terms of restriction on travel, restriction on competitions, the just constant changes and uncertainty they’ve had to deal with. So I’m sure this will be an incredibly resilient team in Tokyo.”

The Tokyo Games are 18 days away. Here’s how Team Canada is looking:

• Canada’s men’s basketball team won’t be in Tokyo this year. After a plethora of heroics and a bunch of NBA talent on the roster, Canada’s hopes for a berth in the Tokyo Games ended in an 103-101 overtime loss to the Czech Republic on Saturday. On the way to this semi-finals defeat, Canada beat Greece and China in the group stages, but just couldn’t get over the hump. Star Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray missed the qualification tournament due to a torn ACL but eight NBA players, including Andrew Wiggins (Warriors), R.J. Barrett (Knicks), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Pelicans), Cory Joseph (Pistons), Trey Lyles (Spurs), Mychal Mulder (Warriors), Luguentz Dort (Thunder) and Dwight Powell (Mavericks) were all part of what was the most talented Canadian men’s basketball team in history. Now Canada must watch from the sidelines until the 2024 Paris Games for another chance at Olympic glory.
• The Canadian diving squad continues to grow. There were two Olympic spots available in the men’s open platform event this week at the Canadian diving trials in Toronto and Montreal’s Nathan Zsombor-Murray, 18, and Saskatoon’s Rylan Wiens, 19, have punched their tickets to Tokyo. After putting up cumulative Olympic qualifying scores of 1028.40 and 983.05, respectively, the two qualified for their official debut at the Olympic Games. On the women’s side, 29-year-old Celina Toth from St. Thomas, Ont., secured her spot with a combined score of 659.55 in open platform at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre.
• Three-metre diving berths were also up for grabs at the Canadian Olympic diving trials. Quebecers Pamela Ware and Jennifer Abel from Greenfield Park and Laval respectively, both qualified for the Tokyo Games. The two divers finished first and second in the competition. Ware won with a score of 716.10 points followed by Abel’s 700.65. On the men’s side, Cedric Fofana qualified with a final score of 842.40, claiming the sole Olympic qualification spot for the event.

We want to hear from you. E-mail us: audience@theglobeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.

Tokyo has the most infections in five weeks, a member of Serbia’s rowing team contracts COVID-19 and the debate of extending prevention measures as continues

Tokyo’s COVID-19 infections have risen to a five-week high of 716 on Saturday. Tokyo and three of its neighbouring prefectures are under a “quasi” state of emergency set to run through July 11. Japan may extend the measures by two weeks or more due to a recent uptick in infections but the surge comes just as Olympic organizers are debating whether to allow spectator to attend the Games, starting July 23.

And that’s just domestically. A member of Serbia’s rowing team also tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Japan on Sunday. That makes them the third infection confirmed in Olympic team members visiting Tokyo as two members of Uganda’s Olympic squad tested positive for the coronavirus in June. With the rest of the Serbian rowing team needing to spend two weeks in isolation, it will hamper its preparations before the Games as it will not be travelling to Nanto for its scheduled training camp.

Olympic moment

Open this photo in gallery:

Sept. 24, 1988

Ben Johnson wins gold. One drug test and 72 hours later, it’s gone.

The story of Ben Johnson’s failed drug test three days after winning the men’s 100 metres was more than a historical touchpoint, even for generations who weren’t alive to see it. It sparked an international conversation about the potentially pervasive culture of doping in athletics at the time.

At the 100-metre final, Johnson ran a world-record time of 9.79 seconds to beat rival Carl Lewis of the United States. Seventy-two hours later, doping authorities knocked on his door and left with his gold medal. Testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, he eventually admitted to having used steroids previously – including in his 1987 world-record run – but argued, alongside his coach, that he only used it to stay competitive on the track. The scandal, one of the most memorable in track history, launched Canada’s Dubin Inquiry, a federal probe that heard hundreds of hours of testimony into the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics. Exposing flaws in Canada’s drug-testing system – and an existential problem for clean sport – it led to an overhaul of Canada’s drug-testing and prevention practices.

Is there a Canadian Olympic moment you can’t seem to forget? If you do, e-mail us at audience@globeandmail.com and tell us why.