Olympic newsletter: Get ready for a super Saturday | CBC Sports

This is an excerpt from CBC Sports’ daily newsletter, The Buzzer. Subscribe here to get the latest on the Paris Olympics in your inbox every day.

Canada added three bronze medals on Friday. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski won the third-place match in mixed doubles tennis, Sophiane Méthot surprised in the women’s trampoline event, and swimmer Kylie Masse reached her fifth Olympic podium.

It could have been more. Swimmer Josh Liendo missed a medal by just two hundredths of a second in the men’s 50m freestyle, and distance runner Moh Ahmed challenged for gold deep into the men’s 10,000m final before also finishing fourth.

Canada now boasts 11 medals (3 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze) through seven days of competition.

Another bunch could be coming on a jam-packed Saturday featuring Summer McIntosh’s last solo race, Damian Warner in the final day of the decathlon, Auger-Aliassime in another bronze match and Canada’s women’s eight rowing team in its final.

Plus, the resilient Canadian women’s soccer team plays in the quarterfinals, a rising sprinter aims for the women’s 100m final and a veteran gymnast takes on Simone Biles for maybe the last time.

Let’s take you through all that and more in our daily viewing guide. Then, another big win for the Canadian men’s basketball team.

WATCH | CBC’s Meg Roberts previews what to watch on Day 8:

Get ready for a super Saturday

Here are the top Canadian contenders to watch:

Soccer: Canada vs. Germany in the women’s quarterfinals

Canada is not supposed to be here. The purpose of the six-point penalty for the drone-spying scandal, if we’re being honest, was for FIFA to prevent the Canadians from advancing without getting its hands dirtied by messy forfeits. But the Olympic champions simply refused to go quietly, upsetting France with a last-minute goal before beating Colombia in another must-win match to crash the quarters.

Despite all the drama, Canada actually fared better in the group stage than it did in Tokyo. There, the Canadians had a win and two draws and scored four goals to finish second in their group before their magical run through the knockout rounds. Here, they won all three of their matches and scored five times, including Vanessa Gilles’ pair of dramatic winners. That obviously would have won them their group if not for the penalty, which knocked them down to second.

Germany also placed second in its group, trouncing Australia 3-0 and Zambia 4-1 but losing 4-1 to the United States.

The match kicks off at 1 p.m. ET. The winner will face either Japan or the Americans, who are favoured to meet Women’s World Cup champion Spain in the gold-medal match.

Swimming: Summer McIntosh in the women’s 200m individual medley final

What an Olympics it’s been for the 17-year-old swimming sensation. After taking silver in the women’s 400m freestyle, McIntosh won the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly to become the first Canadian woman to capture multiple swimming golds at the same Olympics.

Her final solo event could be one of the most competitive races in Paris. The 200 medley final at 3:08 p.m. ET looks like a three-way tossup between McIntosh, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown and American Kate Douglass. Canada’s Sydney Pickrem also qualified.

If she’s got enough juice left, McIntosh could swim in the mixed 4x100m medley final at 3:58 p.m. ET. She might be in one more relay on Sunday, the last day of swimming competition.

Canada also has two swimmers in the men’s 100m butterfly final Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET. Josh Liendo is a two-time world-championship medallist in this event, while Ilya Kharun took bronze in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday.

Track and field: Damian Warner in the final day of the decathlon

The defending Olympic champ sits fourth at the halfway point, but within striking distance of German leader Leo Neugebauer. Warner placed first in the opening 100m leg Friday and was fourth in the long jump, fifth in high jump, sixth in the 400m and 13th in the shot put. 

The second half of the competition begins at 4:05 a.m. ET with the 110m hurdles, followed by the discus, pole vault and javelin. It closes with the 1,500m at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Another Canadian to watch in track and field Saturday is Audrey Leduc in the women’s 100m. She broke the Canadian record again Friday with a time of 10.95 seconds — tied for the fifth-fastest overall in the heats. Leduc will race in the semifinals at 1:50 p.m. ET with hopes of reaching the final at 3:20 p.m. ET. World champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. is the favourite for gold.

Canada’s Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown and Duan Asemota will compete in the first round of the men’s 100m, starting at 5:55 a.m. ET. The semis and final are on Sunday.

Rowing: Canada in the women’s eight final

Just like when they won their surprising gold in Tokyo, the Canadians went through the repechage round to reach the final at 4:20 a.m. ET. World-record holder Romania is favoured to take gold after posting easily the fastest overall time in the opening-round heats.

The Canadian crew includes four women who were on the 2021 Olympic team: Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and coxswain Kristen Kit.

Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime in the men’s bronze match

Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowksi captured Canada’s first Olympic tennis medal in 24 years, beating a Dutch duo in Friday’s third-place match in mixed doubles. Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau won the men’s doubles gold in 2000.

Earlier, the 13th-seeded Auger-Aliassime got blown out 6-1, 6-1 by No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men’s semifinals. Felix will play No. 11 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy for the bronze on Saturday, probably sometime after noon ET.

Alcaraz faces top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in a marquee gold-medal matchup on Sunday. The women’s final, an unexpected matchup between China’s Zheng Qinwen and Croatia’s Donna Vekic, takes place Saturday.

Gymnastics: Ellie Black and Shallon Olsen vs. Simone Biles in the women’s vault

This could be the last shot at an Olympic medal for Black, who’s coming off a sixth-place finish in the all-around final in her fourth Olympic appearance. The 28-year-old placed eighth in qualifying for the vault. She’ll be joined by Olsen, who was seventh. The competition starts at 10:20 a.m. ET.

Biles is favoured to add her seventh Olympic gold medal after winning the all-around and powering the U.S. to the team gold already this week.

The men’s floor exercise and pommel horse finals also take place Saturday. No Canadians made it in either event , but American Stephen Nedoroscik — the much-memed Pommel Horse Guy — was one of the top qualifiers.

Judo: Canada in the mixed team event

Canada’s judokas have had, well, mixed results so far. Christa Deguchi won the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sport, but podium contenders Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard and Shady Elnahas failed to reach the medal rounds.

Still, Canada’s depth suggests it could be a medal threat in the mixed team event, which starts at 2 a.m. ET. The Canadians have a bye to the round of 16, where they’ll face Uzbekistan. The medal rounds begin at 10 a.m. ET.

Something else to know

The Canadian men’s basketball team won its group.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 20 points as Canada held off Spain 88-85 on Friday to complete a perfect 3-0 run in group play. Andrew Nembhard scored 18 and RJ Barrett had 16.

Spain, facing elimination, whittled its 49-38 halftime deficit down to one point when Spanish-league veteran Sergio Llull knocked down a trey with 3.1 seconds left. But Gilgeous-Alexander converted a pair of free throws before Llull’s halfcourt heave at the buzzer fell short.

Basketball World Cup champion Germany (3-0) also won its group, while France (2-1) and Australia (1-2) advanced as second-place finishers and Brazil (1-2) will move on as one of the two best third-place teams. The United States (2-0) should wrap up its group Saturday, when the remaining quarterfinal spots will be decided. A weighted draw determines the matchups for Tuesday’s games.

The Canadian women’s team is on the brink of elimination at 0-2 heading into Sunday’s game against Nigeria.

The Canadian women’s 3×3 team fell to 3-3 on Friday with losses to the United States and Spain. That puts them in fifth place heading into Saturday’s round-robin finale vs. Azerbaijan at 11:30 a.m. ET. The top two teams advance to the semifinals, while Nos. 3-6 compete in play-in games for the other two spots. The play-ins start Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The semifinals and medal games are on Monday.

How to watch the Olympics

Live events are televised on the CBC TV network, TSN and Sportsnet. Or choose exactly what you want to watch by live streaming on CBC Gem or CBC Sports’ Paris 2024 website and app.

Highlights of CBC Sports’ digital coverage include Paris Tonight with host Ariel Helwani, live every night at 11 p.m. ET from Canada Olympic House in Paris; Rise and Stream with host Meg Roberts, identifying the key events to watch each day; Hot Takes with host Dale Manucdoc, highlighting must-see moments; and Paris Pulse with Meg and Dale, discussing trending stories from the Games.

You can also test your Olympic knowledge and win prizes on The Game, a nightly trivia contest with host Craig McMorris. Read more about CBC’s multi-platform Olympics coverage here.