The Paris Olympics are over. And so is a historic Games for Canada.
Summer McIntosh and Ethan Katzberg carried the Canadian flag into the closing ceremony of the Paris Games on Sunday after headlining Canada鈥檚 record-breaking medal haul at the Olympics.
Hundreds of other Canadian athletes poured in minutes after the duo, leading two groups into the 80,000-capacity Stade de France.
McIntosh, the 17-year-old swimmer from Toronto, won four medals in the pool and became Canada鈥檚 first triple gold-medallist, while also adding a silver. She set two Olympic records in Paris 鈥� in the women鈥檚 200-metre butterfly (2:03.03) and the women鈥檚 200 individual medley (2:06.56).
This duo 鉂わ笍
鈥� Team Canada (@TeamCanada)
The 22-year-old Katzberg, of Nanaimo, claimed Canada鈥檚 first gold in men鈥檚 hammer throw with the largest margin of victory in the event since Antwerp 1920.
鈥淚 think the main thing that鈥檚 going to take the longest to sink in is being flag-bearer,鈥� McIntosh said after her historic Games. 鈥淚t is such an honour and once-in-a-lifetime (experience).鈥�
Canada鈥檚 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 in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Canada also finished with seven silver medals and 11 bronze, and was ranked 11th in both number of gold medals and overall total among 84 countries that took home hardware.
Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker said the performances of Canadian athletes helped turn around a turbulent start to the Games, which were initially rocked by a drone spying scandal in women鈥檚 soccer.
鈥淚 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,鈥� he said at a press conference at Canada Olympic House.
The final day of competition saw Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, running a season鈥檚 best 2:31:08 in the women鈥檚 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.
The American women鈥檚 basketball team won the final competition of the Games with a 67-66 victory over France in the gold-medal game.
The win helped the U.S. tie China for the most gold medals with 40. The Americans easily won the total medal count with 126, while China came in second with 91.
Meanwhile, Maple Ridge鈥檚 Maggie Coles-Lyster made it to the women鈥檚 omnium final in track cycling, finishing ninth with 101 points.
Defending Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell, who did not advance to Sunday鈥檚 final in the women鈥檚 individual sprint, finished last in the race determining fifth through eighth positions.
Five of Canada鈥檚 medals came from track and field athletes.
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Katzberg and Camryn Rogers of Richmond, swept the top of the podium in men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 hammer throw, while Canada鈥檚 men鈥檚 4x100-metre team also won gold.
Edmonton鈥檚 Marco Arop added silver in the men鈥檚 400, and Alysha Newman of Delaware, Ont., took bronze in women鈥檚 pole vault.
鈥淚 chalk it up as an awesome display of resilience by our athletes,鈥� said Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert, calling the Games a success. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had athletes fall, we鈥檝e had athletes not advance 鈥� we鈥檝e had athletes have mishaps on this journey but it did not impact the team.
鈥淧eople kept showing up, they kept getting out there and performing.鈥�
The Canadians at the closing ceremony all came dressed in shorts and T-shirts in a dark, galaxy-like pattern with 鈥淐AN鈥� written vertically down the back in white letters. The medal winners proudly wore their hardware around their necks.
鈥淲e just saw the best of Canada. Over the past two weeks, more than 330 athletes from across the country represented Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,鈥� Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement.
鈥淭hey showed everyone that Canada belongs on the world stage 鈥� as leaders and champions at the pinnacle of sport.鈥�
The Canadian Press
