It was a gold medal nearly 30 years in making, and it came in dominant fashion on Tokyo Bay.
Canada women’s eight led from start to finish at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, racing to its first gold medal in the event since the 1992 Barcelona Games.
It was a performance reminiscent of Canada’s rowing glory days in the 1990s, when Kathleen Heddle and current chef de mission Marnie McBean headlined a dominant crew.
The crew saw the thunderclouds in the sky as a sign that Heddle, who died of cancer at the age of 55 earlier this year, was there in spirit.
“It was just a reminder that Kathleen was with us — and we’re the storm and we’re going to bring it,” Susanne Grainger said. “We had a moment as a boat to remember her and make sure we brought the amazing grace and grit she rowed with into our race.”
Grainger, Lisa Roman, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Christine Roper, Andrea Proske, Madison Mailey, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and coxswain Kristen Kit flew over the 2,000-metre distance, finishing with a time of five minutes 59.13 seconds.
New Zealand grabbed silver (6:00.04), while China took bronze (6:01.21).
The gold-medal performance came one day after Victoria’s Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens of Surrey, B.C., earned a bronze Thursday in the women’s pair.
Roman said the win is “huge” for Canada’s rowers, who are coming off a disappointing performance five years ago in Rio, where the program secured only one medal.
“We’ve worked so hard,” she said. “I’m so grateful I got to be a part of this.”
There were also near-misses for two of Canada’s most celebrated Olympians on Friday.
Swimmer Penny Oleksiak finished fourth in the women’s 100-metre freestyle, an event she won in Rio, while two-time defending gold medallist Rosie MacLennan finished fourth in the women’s trampoline.
MacLennan finished with a score of 55.460, less than three-tenths of a point short of Britain’s Bryony Page for bronze.
Xueying Zhu and Lingling Liu, both of China, took gold and silver, respectively.
Another medal would have made six-time medallist Oleksiak Canada’s most decorated Olympian of all-time.
Oleksiak tried, swimming her fastest time and eclipsing the Olympic record of 52.70 that she and American Simone Manuel set together in 2016 when they tied for gold.
But Australia’s Emma McKeon lowered the record to 51.96 en route to Friday’s victory, ahead of Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong who touched in 52.27.
The 21-year-old from Toronto appeared philosophical about missing the record.
“I have six Olympic medals. There’s only three people in Canada that can say that,” she said. The other two are speedskater Cindy Klassen and cyclist/speedskater Clara Hughes.
Oleksiak gets another chance at that historic medal in Sunday’s medley relay, where she’s expected to swim the final freestyle leg. If not, Oleksiak points out that she’s still young — and there will be another Olympics in just three years.
In track and field, Canada will have two runners in the men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase final after solid runs in the heats by Matt Hughes and John Gay.
But there was heartbreak for Melissa Bishop-Nriagu as the world silver medallist and Canadian record-holder finished fourth in her heat of the women’s 800 metres and didn’t advance.
In other action, the men’s volleyball team won their match against Venezuela, bringing their record to 2-2 and improving their chances at making the quarterfinals.
But Canada’s hopes of earning another medal in women’s rugby sevens were dashed when the team finished third in Pool B and missed the quarterfinals. The Canadian squad won bronze in the sport’s Olympic Debut in 2016.
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