PARIS – Summer McIntosh and Ethan Katzberg are set to carry the Canadian flag into the closing ceremony of the Paris Summer Games after headlining Canada’s record-breaking medal haul at the Olympics.
McIntosh, the 17-year-old swimmer from Toronto, won four medals in the pool and became Canada’s first triple gold-medallist, while also adding a silver. She set two Olympic records Paris — in the women’s 200-metre butterfly (2:03.03) and the women’s 200 individual medley (2:06.56).
The 22-year-old Katzberg, of Nanaimo, B.C., claimed Canada’s first gold in men’s hammer throw with the largest margin of victory in the event since Antwerp 1920.
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Canada’s nine gold medals and 27 total medals were both records for the country at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics, surpassing previous highs set in Tokyo three years ago and 1992 in Barcelona.
It also finished with seven silver medals and 11 bronze.
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Canada ranked 11th among 84 countries that won medals in both total and gold.
Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker said the performances of Canadian athletes helped turn around a turbulent start to the Games rocked by drone spying scandal in women’s soccer.
“I felt that it was a tarnish at the beginning of the Games for us and now I can sit here nearly three weeks later and feel that the athletes on the field of play have done an enormous amount of good to remedy that situation (including) the soccer players themselves,” he said at a press conference at Canada Olympic House.
The final day of competition saw Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., running a season’s best 2:31:08 in the women’s marathon to finish 35th overall. Elmore, 44, debuted back at the 2004 Athens Games as a track athlete, before converting to a long-distance runner later in her career.
Meanwhile, Maple Ridge, B.C.’s Maggie Coles-Lyster made it to the women’s omnium final in track cycling, finishing ninth with 101 points.
Defending Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell, who did not advance to Sunday’s final in the women’s individual sprint, finished last in the race determining fifth through eighth positions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
