In winning the bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle, swimmer Benny Oleksiak took home her sixth Olympic medal of her career on Tuesday at the Tokyo Games.
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The 21-year-old joins Cindy Claassen and Clara Hughes as the most decorated Olympian in Canadian history. She also became the country’s most decorated female athlete at the Summer Olympics.
Oleksiak holds a silver medal in the 4x100m freestyle in Tokyo, as well as a gold, silver and bronze (two) from the 2016 Rio Games.
“I arrived here in a different state of mind than in 2016. I arrived knowing I had a very good background, knowing that I am not here through luck, but thanks to my work,” the 21-year-old athlete pointed into the public announcer’s microphone minutes later. Few of his race.
In her most recent victory, the Toronto native completed the four lengths of pool in 1 minute 54.70 seconds. She was beaten by Australian Ariarn Titmus (gold) and Hong Kong Siobhan Hauji (silver). The new champion also set a new Olympic mark with her time of 1:53.50.
“You worked really hard in the last 50 metres, and I’m proud to take the bronze,” she said.
Oleksiak will have the chance to win more medals during the prestigious international competition, where she will compete in the 100m freestyle and possibly in a few relay events.
No other medal in the water
A little later, Canadian Sidney Bikrim had to finish sixth in the 200-meter medley final. The 24-year-old swimmer’s record was 2:10.05. This represents a difference of just under two seconds compared to the time of the winner, Japan’s Ohashi Yui.
Also in the pool, Canadians Joshua Lindo and Yuri Kessel failed in their attempt to qualify for the men’s 100m freestyle final. They finished 14th and 15th respectively in the semi-finals.
It is important to get volleyball
The men’s volleyball team achieved its first victory in the Olympic tournament, defeating Iran in three groups of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-22.
The Canadians had failed in the first two engagements. With their victory today, they kept their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals alive.
Against the Iranians, Gord Perrin and Nicholas Haug launched the offensive, scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Canada now has an appointment with Venezuela on Friday. He then concludes his preliminary tournament with a duel against Poland on Sunday.
Briefly
- In rowing, Canadian duo Jesica Civic and Gabriel Smith finished sixth and final in the rowing boats final. The Maple Leaf representatives finished the race more than 12 seconds behind the new Olympic champions, Romanian Ankota Bodnar and Simona Giannina Rades. The latter completely dominated the competition and created a new Olympic brand (6:41:03).
- In cycling, Canadians Leah Kirchman and Carol Ann Canwell were in the singles time trial. They occupied the twelfth and fourteenth levels, respectively, of the competition.
- In hockey, Canada fell 4-2 to the Netherlands and lost their third consecutive meeting. The Canadians are already virtually eliminated, and the Canadians will have to win the next two games by big margins if they are to take the next step.