Olympic Roundup: Oleksiak wins gold, her fourth swimming medal

Penny Oleksiak continues to solidify herself as a teenage swimming sensation.

The 16-year-old from Toronto tied for gold in the women’s 100-metre freestyle on Thursday at the Rio Olympics with Simone Manuel of the United States.

Oleksiak and Manuel finished in an Olympic record time of 52.70 seconds, while Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden captured bronze in 52.99 seconds.

“This is amazing, to tie for a gold. I never thought I’d win a gold,” said Oleksiak, who was the first Canadian woman to compete in the event since Marion Lay finished fourth in Mexico City in 1968. “She (Manuel) deserves it as much as me. It means so much.”

Oleksiak becomes the first Canadian swimmer to win four medals in a single Summer Games. She has already won silver in the 100-metre butterfly, and has bronze medals in the 4×100-metre and 4×200-metre freestyle relays.

It’s also Canada’s first gold of the Games and moves them into 20th in the overall medal standings.

GOLF

Canada’s defence of its 112-year-old Olympic golf title is off to a strong start.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., fired four birdies over his first eight holes en route to a 5-under-par 66 and the clubhouse lead on Thursday until Australia’s Marcus Fraser closed his round a short time later with a blistering 63. It was the first round of golf played at the Olympics since Canadian George S. Lyon won gold at the 1904 St. Louis Games.

Lyon played so long ago that he was born in Richmond, Canada West, the British colony that became Ontario after Confederation in 1867.

“It’s pretty cool,” DeLaet said. “First time in over 100 years and we’re leading the charge here at the Olympics.”

Henrik Stenson of Sweden also opened with a 66, and five players, including Germany’s Alex Cejka, were right behind them at 67. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., opened with a 2-over-par 73.

DeLaet was joined by Brazil’s Adilson da Silva and South Korea’s Byeong Hun An in the first group. They were greeted by a phalanx of photographers for the historic moment, with da Silva sending the opening drive down the middle of the fairway.

The historic teeing off was the first time DeLaet had felt anxious before a round of golf in years.

“The last time I can think of really being nervous was probably the (2013) Presidents Cup,” he said. “There has been a couple times if you’re in final groups. But not the first tee shot of the week. So it was definitely a different feeling.

“You’re out there and you’re playing for more than just yourself. You’re playing for the flag and it’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Golf is in the developmental stages in the host country and the rather empty grandstands showed it. There were still groups of fans who followed the golfers around the 7,128-yard course, which has wide fairways, deep bunkers and plenty of slope.

DeLaet, with friend and retired NHL player Ray Whitney on his bag, was an impressive 31 at the turn. His lone bogey came on the 11th hole but he got that shot back on No. 13 and closed his round with another birdie.

DeLaet’s approach game was in form and he was very impressed by the greens, which he said were playing “super true.”

The top four players in the world – Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Spieth and Rory McIlroy – are not in Rio, but the field still boasts big names like Stenson, Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. Play continues through Sunday.

The women’s tournament begins Wednesday. Canada will be represented by Alena Sharp of Hamilton and world No. 3 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont.

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TENNIS

Daniel Nestor’s shot at a second Olympic tennis gold medal ended Thursday when he and partner Vasek Pospisil lost their semifinal to Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6).

The Canadian duo will face Jack Sock and Steve Johnson of the United States in the bronze-medal match on Friday. Spain will play Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the tournament’s final.

Nestor, who won Canada’s only Olympic tennis medal with a gold in men’s doubles in 2000, was added to this Olympic team after star Milos Raonic withdrew because of concerns over the Zika virus.

TRACK AND FIELD

Canada’s track and field team lost sprinter Kim Hyacinthe of Terrebonne, Que., after she suffered a pulled quadriceps muscles late last month in a 200-metre event at the London Anniversary Games.

While she was cleared by a doctor to resume competition, she failed an “event-specific” fitness test in Toronto this week that Hyacinthe felt was almost impossible to pass. Because she fell short she was withdrawn from the Games.

CYCLING

Canada finished fourth in women’s track cycling team pursuit qualifying to advance at the event’s semifinals.

Calgary’s Allison Beveridge, Georgia Simmerling of West Vancouver, B.C., and the Vancouver duo of Jasmin Glaesser and Laura Brown completed the 4,000-metre event where teams race in tandem with a time of four minutes 19.599 seconds. Britain set a new world record of 4:13.260 to top the field, besting Australia’s time at the 2015 world championships by 0.423 seconds.

The United States was second in 4:14.286 at the Rio Olympic Velodrome, while the Aussies clocked in at 4:19.059.

Canada now faces Britain on Saturday morning with a shot at the gold-medal final on the line, while the U.S. will line up against Australia.

OTHER CANADIAN RESULTS THURSDAY:

BADMINTON

Men’s singles – Martin Giuffre, Calgary, lost his preliminary-round opener to Ka Long Angus Ng of Hong Kong, 2-0 (21-11, 21-14)

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Women – Heather Bansley, Waterdown, Ont., and Sarah Pavan, Kitchener, Ont., finished on top of their pool at 3-0 after defeating Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany, 2-0 (21-19, 21-15); Jamie Broder, Victoria, and Kristina Valjas, Toronto, improved to 2-1 with a victory over Nada Meawad and Doaa Elghobashy of Egypt, 2-0 (21-12, 21-16).

Men – Ben Saxton, Calgary, and Chaim Schalk (1-3), Red Deer, Alta., lost their final group-round match to Cuba’s Reynaldo Gonzalez Bayard and Nivaldo Diaz Gomez, 2-0 (21-15, 21-18); they later clinched a playoff berth by winning the “lucky-loser” match over Grzegorz Fualek and Mariusz Prudel of Poland, 2-0 (21-19, 21-18)

BOXING

Men’s light welterweight (64 Kg) – Arthur Biyarslanov, Toronto, advanced to the second round with a 3-0 decision over Obada Alkasbeh of Jordan.

EQUESTRIAN

Individual dressage grand prix – Belinda Trussell of Stouffville, Ont., and her horse Anton, scored 72.214 to be ranked 28th after the second day of the event and qualify for the final; Megan Lane, Collingwood, Ont., and Caravella, who had scored 71.286 on Wednesday, did not advance.

FIELD HOCKEY

Men – Scott Tupper, Vancouver, scored a pair of goals as Canada (0-4) lost 4-2 to Ireland.

GOLF

Men – Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a five-under 66 in the opening round and is tied for second, three shots behind the leader; David Hearn, Brantford, Ont., scored 73.

GYMNASTICS (ARTISTIC)

Women’s all-around – Ellie Black, Halifax, finished eighth overall with a score of 14.366; Isabela Onyshko of Brandon, Man., was 18th (13.900).

JUDO

Men’s 100 kilogram class – Kyle Reyes, Toronto, lost in the elimination round to Henk Grol, Netherlands, 101-0s1.

ROWING

Women’s lightweight double sculls – Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee, both Victoria, placed second in their semifinal (7:16.35), and will race for a medal on Friday.

Women’s pairs – Nicole Hare, Calgary, and Jennifer Martins, Toronto, placed second in the C-final (8:26.03).

Women’s eights – Canada (Caileigh Filmer, Victoria; Suzanne Grainger, London, Ont.; Natalie Mastracci, Thorold, Ont.; Christy Nurse, Georgetown, Ont.; Lisa Roman, Langley, B.C.; Christine Roper, Montego Bay, Jamaica; Lesley Thompson-Willie, London, Ont.; Antje von Seydlitz, Smithers, B.C.; Lauren Wilkinson, North Vancouver, B.C.) won their repechage heat (6:28.07) and will compete in Saturday’s medal race.

Men’s fours – Canada (Will Crothers, Kingston, Ont.; Kai Langerfeld, North Vancouver, B.C.; Conlin McCabe, Brockville, Ont.; and Tim Schrijver, Thedford, Ont.) was second in their semifinal (6:20.66) and advance to Friday’s medal run.

Men’s quad sculls – Canada (Julien Bahain, Sherbrooke, Que.; Will Dean, Kelowna, B.C.; Rob Gibson, Kingston, Ont.; Pascal Lussier, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.) finished second in the B-final (6:13.55) to place eighth overall for the event.

SAILING

470 class – Graeme and Jacob Saunders, both Chester, N.S., were 22nd and 19th in Thursday’s races and are 24th overall in the competition after four races with a score of 87.

Finn class – Tom Ramshaw, Toronto, placed ninth and 16th, and stands 20th overall after six legs with 91.

Nakra 17 – Nikola Girke, West Vancouver, B.C., and Luke Ramsay, Vancouver, finished eighth, 10th, 16th and ninth in the day’s events, and are ranked 10th overall with 62.

SWIMMING

Women’s 100 freestyle – Penny Oleksiak, Toronto, tied for the gold medal with an Olympic record time of 52.20 _ becoming the first Canadian to win four medals in a single Summer Games (gold, silver and two bronzes).

Women’s 200 backstroke – Hilary Caldwell of White Rock, B.C., was second overall in qualifying (2:07.40), and advanced to Friday’s medal race after winning her semifinal heat (2:07.17); Dominique Bouchard, North Bay, Ont., was seventh in qualifying (2:08.87), and missed the final after tying for ninth overall in the semis (2:09.07).

Women’s 200 breaststroke – Kierra Smith, Kelowna, B.C., finished seventh in the final (2:23.19).

Women’s 800 freestyle – Brittany MacLean, Toronto, was 10th in qualifying (8:26.43), did not advance.

Men’s 50 freestyle – Santo Condorelli, Kenora, Ont., tied for seventh overall in qualifying (21.83), but did not earn a trip to the final after placing 12th in the semis (21.97); Yuri Kisil, Calgary, was 35th (22.50), did not advance.

Men’s 100 butterfly – Santo Condorelli had the 14th-best time in qualifying (51.99); failed to qualify for the medal race, finishing 12th-overall in the semifinals despite posting a Canadian-record time of 51.83.

VOLLEYBALL

Men – Canada (1-2) lost their preliminary-round match to France, 3-0 (25-19. 25-16, 25-19).