While the watching experience and timing for the 2024 Paris Olympics isn't quite as challenging for Canadian viewers as it was for Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022, a good chunk of action during these Games happens when plenty of Canadians are fast asleep.
Whether you were crushing some zzz's, had family activities to partake in or just didn't have a chance to tune in, we have you covered throughout these Olympics from start to finish.
Here's what you missed from Day 2 of the 2024 Summer Games:
Harvey claims Canada's first Olympic fencing medal with bronze
Fencer Eleanor Harvey claimed Canada's second medal of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, topping Italy's Alice Volpi 15-12 to capture bronze in the women's individual foil.
The 29-year-old's victory marks Canada's best-ever finish in an individual fencing event.
Not exactly known as a fencing powerhouse, Canadian fencers have been making headlines all weekend in Paris. On Saturday, Laval, Quebec's Fares Arfa upset three-time defending Olympic gold-medalist Aron Szilagyi of Hungary in men's sabre before narrowly losing to eventual gold medallist Oh Sang-uk of South Korea in the quarters. That was Canada's best-ever result in Olympic fencing until Harvey won bronze just a day later.
Summer McIntosh secured Canada's first medal of the 2024 Games with a silver in the women's 400-metre freestyle on Saturday.
Canadian women’s soccer team pulls out miraculous win in injury time over France
With FIFA punishing Canada over the recent drone-spying scandal, the Canadian women's soccer team had to win out to have any chance of advancing out of the group stage at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Well, the squad moved closer to making that dream a reality on Sunday with a miraculous victory over France, with Vanessa Gilles scoring the winner in the 102nd-minute. Marie-Antoinette Katoto tallied for the Olympic host team in the 42nd minute, while captain Jessie Fleming put one home for the Canadians in the 58th minute to tie it up.
Canada have just beaten France 2-1 in the Olympic women's football, Vanessa Gilles scoring a 102nd-minute winner.
It moves Canada back to zero points following their 6pt deduction, they could still reach the knock-outs if the beat Colombia in their final group game.
Remarkable.— Emma Smith (@emmasmithjourno) July 28, 2024
See AlsoMen earn gold in 4x100m freestyle relay, Nadal/Alcaraz advance and more from the Paris GamesWhy Olympic boxer Jahmal Harvey gives USA hope to end gold-medal droughtHistory made: Eleanor Harvey wins Canada's 1st-ever Olympic fencing medal with bronze | CBC SportsCanada’s Harvey captures fencing bronze in Paris - National | Globalnews.ca
Canada beat New Zealand in the Olympic opener on Thursday before the team was docked six points by FIFA over those aforementioned drone-spying allegations, in which a member of Canada's coaching staff was caught using a drone to record New Zealand's closed practices ahead of the tournament. The Canadian Olympic Committee says it's still considering an appeal of the ruling.
On Sunday, suspended head coach Bev Priestman, who was banned for a year by FIFA as part of the governing body's punishment, took responsibility and apologized for her transgressions.
"I am absolutely heartbroken for the players, and I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the impact this situation has had on all of them," Priestman said in a statement released a couple hours before the match against France.
"I know how hard they have worked following a very difficult year in 2023, and that they are a group of people who care very much about sportsmanship and integrity. As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully cooperate with the investigation."
Earlier in the day, Carla Qualtrough, Canada's sports minister, announced that the government will be withholding some of Canada Soccer's funding in light of the scandal.
Despite the murky circ*mstances, the Canadian women can potentially advance to the knockout stage with a win over Colombia on Wednesday.
Vanessa Gilles: “We’re not cheaters. We’re damn good players. We’re a damn good team... We proved that today” #CanWNT pic.twitter.com/cn1Ml4ih3z
— Bryann Aguilar (@BryannAguilar) July 28, 2024
Three Canadians advance to second round of Olympic tennis tournament
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Fernandez all won their first-round matches on Sunday, marking a strong start for Canadian tennis at the Paris OIympics.
On the women's side, Andreescu posted an efficient 6-2, 6-3 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson, while Fernandez toppled Czechia's Karolina Muchova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in a three-setter that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Andreescu is competing in her first Olympics after injuries forced her to miss Tokyo in 2021.
"I don't think there are any words to describe this. The crowd, first of all, was incredible from both sides. It was a super fun atmosphere," Andreescu said.
Meanwhile, in the men's draw, Montreal's Auger-Aliassime made quick work of American Marcos Giron with a 6-1, 6-4 straight-set win.
Despite the dominant showing, especially with his serve — firing 10 aces past Giron — Auger-Aliassime knows he'll have to be better as the tournament moves on.
“No, there’s always room for improvement,” he said in French. “On the serve, it was very good, but I think that on the return, especially in the second set, I could have done more to apply more pressure. But since my serve went so well, I was able to use it well in the set.”
Canada moves on to women's artistic gymnastics team final
Canada, led by veteran Ellie Black, advanced to the team final in women's artistic gymnastics with a 5th-place finish in qualifying on Sunday.
Black led the Canadian team with an eighth-place finish in the all-around standings. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native tallied a combined 54.766 points on the balance beam, vault, uneven bars and floor to qualify for the all-around final.
Competing in her fourth Olympics for Canada, Black also advanced to the vault final, finishing seventh in qualifying. Vancouver's Shallon Olsen will join Black in the vault final with a 6th-place qualifying finish.
Canada's men's squad also advanced to its final after finishing eighth in qualifying on Saturday. This is only the second time both Canadian gymnastics teams have reached their respective finals, and the first time since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
The women’s team just qualified in the final of the artistic gymnastics team event for the first time in 12 years🥺🫶🏻🇨🇦 #TeamCanada
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) July 28, 2024
Maggie Mac Neil just misses podium in pursuit of historic gold
London, Ontario's Maggie Mac Neil just missed the podium in the women’s 100-metre butterfly on Sunday, finishing 5th.
Mac Neil came out of the gate fast and furious, posting a personal-best of 25.94 seconds in the first 50 metres, but couldn’t push hard enough the final half of the race as the defending Olympic gold medalist finished 5th overall with a time of 56.44 seconds.
Mac Neil had a chance to make history in Paris — no women's swimmer has ever won back-to-back gold medals in the 100-metre butterfly — but fell short.
American Tori Huske claimed gold with a time of 55.59 seconds, while USA's Gretchen Walsh (55.63s) and China's Zhang Yufei (55.21s) claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
Mac Neil’s time was just 0.23 seconds slower than Yufei’s bronze medal time.
The Ontario native will have a couple more chances to medal in Paris, competing in the 100-metre Freestyle on Tuesday and the 4x100 metre Medley Relay on Friday.
Canada drops Fiji to open women's rugby sevens tournament
Team Canada opened its Olympic rugby sevens tournament with a 17-14 win over Fiji on Sunday afternoon. Keyara Wardley scored the decisive try for the 7th-ranked Canadians, while Florence Symonds and Charity Williams also had tries for Canada.
Canada faces No. 1 New Zealand later on Sunday before their final contest of pool play against 12th-ranked China on Monday.
