PARIS – From Canadian women’s soccer facing a massive six-point penalty to the chance for more pool medals, here are five things to watch for at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28:
TRYING TO MOVE ON
Canadian women’s soccer will take on host nation France in Saint-Étienne as its hopes of repeating as Olympic champions are in serious doubt. FIFA has stripped Canada of six points, the equivalent of two wins, following the espionage scandal that has overshadowed the start of the Games for the Canadian Olympic team. FIFA also banned head coach Bev Priestman and two other Canadian staffers for one year and fined Canada Soccer 200,000 Swiss francs (C$313,000). The scandal broke when two Canadian staffers were caught using a drone to film two New Zealand practices. Canada defeated New Zealand 2–1 to open the tournament.
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TITLE DEFENDER
Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil looks to defend her Olympic title as she swims in the women’s 100m butterfly final. The 24-year-old from London, Ontario, finished third in her semi-final on Saturday and tied for fourth fastest in qualifying. Canada is looking for more hardware in the pool after Toronto’s Summer McIntosh won silver in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on Saturday.
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DREAM TEAM 2024
The star-studded U.S. men’s basketball team will play its first match at the Paris Olympics when it takes on Serbia at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium near Lille. The Americans say they hope to have Kevin Durant in the line-up. He missed all of his team’s practice matches due to a calf injury. Even if Durant can’t go, the US will have a formidable lineup led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid. The Serbian roster includes Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
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SECOND SERVICE
All Canadian tennis players will be in action on Sunday, after rain washed out all the outdoor courts at Roland Garros on Saturday. Among the affected matches were four involving Canadians. Felix Auger-Aliassime’s opening match in the men’s singles, the women’s singles matches with Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu and a doubles match between Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski are now part of a huge series of matches scheduled for Sunday. They join Canadian veteran Milos Raonic, whose first-round match is still scheduled despite the upset.
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WELCOME TO THE MAT
Canadian judoka Kelly Deguchi will make her Olympic debut when she competes in the women’s under-52-kilogram event at the Champ-de-Mars Arena. Deguchi, who lives and trains in Japan, won silver in the event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Her sister Christa, the world’s top-ranked female judoka, will make her Olympic debut in the under 57kg category on Monday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
