Paris Olympics digest: Canada wins first fencing medal; Mac Neil misses the podium; Canadian women beat France in soccer

Olympic highlights for July 28

• Soccer: The Canadian women’s soccer team beat France 2-1 after their suspended head coach Bev Priestman apologized for a drone-spying scandal that pushed her team to the verge of elimination. Meanwhile, Canada’s Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough said the government would withhold funding from Soccer Canada.
• Fencing: Canadian fencer Eleanor Harvey won Canada’s second medal of the Paris Olympics, capturing bronze in the women’s individual foil.
• Swimming: Another big day in Canadian swimming saw Maggie Mac Neil place fifth in the women’s 100-metre butterfly final. While Canada failed to qualify in the men’s 400-metre individual medley and women’s 100-metre breaststroke, Blake Tierney made the semi-finals for the men’s 100-metre backstroke. Mary-Sophie Harvey also qualified for the 200-metre freestyle semifinals.
• Tennis: Canadian tennis great Felix Auger-Aliassime won his singles opener with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over American Marcos Giron while Bianca Andreescu accomplished the same with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson. Leylah Fernandez beat Czech player Karolina Muchova on Sunday and is set to play Spain’s Cristina Bucsa on Monday at 7:30am ET.

In photos: Day two of the Paris Olympics

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Here’s what has happened today, July 28, at the Olympics

• Surfing: Sanoa Dempfle-Olin was Canada’s first surfing Olympian when she took to the waves in Tahiti, Sunday, but she was eliminated after her heat with Brazilian Tainá Hinckel.
• Basketball: The United States men’s basketball team made its highly anticipated Paris debut against Serbia, winning 110-84. The U.S. roster is stacked with top-flight NBA talent, including LeBron James and Steph Curry. The gold-medal favourite Americans, coached by Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, should cruise through the group stage of the tournament. They play South Sudan next on July 31 at 2:45pm ET.
• Gymnastics: Led by Olympic veteran Ellie Black, Canada advanced to the team final in women’s artistic gymnastics by finishing fifth in Sunday’s qualifying. Meanwhile, the United States dominated women’s qualifying, with Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles finishing in the top three all-around spots.
• Beach Volleyball: In the men’s preliminary phase, Canadian pair Samuel Schachter and Daniel Dearing fell 2-0 to Czech Republic in a 21-17, 21-19 game.
• Rugby: Despite Fiji’s efforts to bounce back from a 0-12 score at halftime, Canada’s women’s rugby team did not give up their lead and won with a final score of 17-14.

What to watch for tomorrow, July 29, at the Olympics

• Swimming: Summer McIntosh will dive in for the women’s 400-metre individual medley heats round at 5:06 a.m. ET., along with Canadian teammate Ella Jansen at 5 a.m. ET. Canada’s Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm will also make a splash in their heats round for the women’s 100m backstroke. Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey, will swim in the women’s 200m freestyle final at 3:41pm ET.
• Basketball: The fifth-ranked Canada women’s basketball team will take on France – ranked no. 7 in the world – at 11:15am ET.
• Gymnastics: Team Canada’s men’s gymnastics team is set to compete in the finals at 11:30 a.m. ET., after claiming the eighth and final spot by less than a quarter of a point over Turkey on Saturday.
• Judo: Top-ranked Canadian judoka Christa Deguchi will compete in the round of 16 in women’s 57kg judo at 5:12am ET. The two-time world champion is making her Olympic debut this summer, and she hasn’t missed the podium in an international competition since August 2023 – a string of 10 straight tournaments.

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