Canada earned a bronze medal in women’s rugby sevens, beating Great Britain Monday evening.
Karen Paquin opened the scoring for Canada with a try three minutes into the first half. Great Britain answered quickly with a try of their own, but Canada pulled ahead late in the first half as Ghislaine Landry, Bianca Farella and Kelly Russell touched down.
Canada held their lead in the second half and Landry added another try late to secure the 33-10 victory. It’s Canada’s third medal so far in Rio.
Landry was the star of the match, accounting for 18 of Canada’s 33 points. In addition to her two tries, she kicked four conversions. The victory was extra sweet for Canada considering they were shut out 22-0 was Great Britain in a preliminary round match.
“I feel like a superhero,” team captain Jen Kish told reporters. “I know 11 of my other teammates feel that way too. “What a freaking historic moment for us. Now I know what our Canadian women’s soccer team felt like when they got bronze (at London 2012). It’s just an ultimate superhero feeling. It’s great.”
Australia defeated New Zealand 24-15 in the gold medal game after topping Canada 17-5 in the semifinals earlier in the day.
This is the first time an Olympics Games has included women’s rugby.