Canada鈥檚 Ethan Katzberg won the gold medal in the men鈥檚 hammer throw at the Paris Olympics on Sunday with a dominating performance.
Katzberg, from Nanaimo, opened with a throw of 84.12 metres and was not seriously challenged through the rest of the competition to win Canada鈥檚 first gold medal in the event.
That "just threw 68 cm from the Olympic record" feeling 馃挭
鈥� Team Canada (@TeamCanada)
Ethan Katzberg sends his hammer 84.12m, sitting in provisional first place with his first throw 馃憦
Watch on CBC Gem |
The reigning world champion also had the second-best throw at 82.28 metres.
No other competitor hit the 80-metre mark.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 if I expected (to win gold) but I had the preparation in mind to get out a good first throw,鈥� Katzberg said. 鈥淚t felt really good.
鈥淚 might have thought it could be good enough, but I didn鈥檛 want to assume anything so I was still trying to improve my distance throughout the rounds. But fortunately, 84 sealed the deal.鈥�
Bence Halasz of Hungary took silver at 79.97 metres and Mykhaylo Kokhan threw 79.39 metres to earn bronze.
READ MORE:
Rowan Hamilton of Chilliwack, who was second behind Katzberg in qualifying, finished ninth at 76.59 metres.
Forever in the history books 馃
鈥� Team Canada (@TeamCanada)
Ethan Katzberg becomes the first Canadian man to win a gold medal in hammer throw at the Olympics 馃挭 | |
In boxing, Wyatt Sanford ended one streak and continued another on Day 9 of the Paris Olympics.
The boxer from Kennetcook, N.S., was defeated in his 63.5-kilogram semifinal bout against France鈥檚 Sofiane Oumiha on Sunday.
However, with boxing awarding two bronze medals to the semifinal losers rather than stage a fight for third place, Sanford ended Canada鈥檚 Olympic medal drought in the sport that stretched over the last six Games. The last Canadian boxer to step on the podium had been David Defiagbon, who took heavyweight silver at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
And with Sanford鈥檚 bronze already added to the official medal table, Canada has equalled its record streak of nine straight days on the podium set at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Canada sat ninth in the overall medal table with 16 (four gold, four silver, eight bronze).
Four of the five judges scored the 63.5 kg semifinal 29-28 in Oumiha鈥檚 favour, while the other had Sanford winning by the same score.
It was another Olympics to forget for Canada鈥檚 women鈥檚 basketball team, which went winless at the Games following a 79-70 loss to Nigeria in Lille.
After finishing ninth in Tokyo, Canada came into this summer鈥檚 tournament ranked fifth in the world. The squad was expected to challenge for a medal, but struggled with turnovers and defensive lapses in losses to Nigeria, Australia and France.
The Canadian Press
