“I chugged a Powerade – that must have helped”. Tuesday, Murray had the chance to play his first game as Canada battled the Dominican Republic in the first game of pool play for both countries.
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“I was just hoping to get the momentum switched”, Nurse said. The Canadians were in danger of finishing a day’s competition without a gold for the first time at the games.
“That was a pretty darn impressive performance, especially with the magnitude of the game”, Canadian coach Lisa Thomaidis said afterward. “On the biggest stage she rises to the occasion”.
Hughes pulled away from the pack with three laps to go. Nirra Fields, 21, the other member of Canada’s young, dynamic backcourt duo chipped in nine points. Rotating constantly to stay fresh and utilizing plenty of double teams, they brilliantly executed Canada’s game plan to keep Stewart in check.
“It’s a dream come true for these women, for our team”, Thomaidis said.
In Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming’s eyes, if you don’t take a risk you won’t get the reward, and that’s what the 17-year-old and her teammates did Sunday night in Hamilton.
Sultana Frizell of Perth, Ont., took bronze in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 69.51 metres, while Toronto’s Nikkita Holder won bronze in the women’s 100 hurdles in 12.85 seconds.
Sprinter Andre De Grasse will be looking to add to Canada’s medal haul. “This is a huge tournament to do that at”.
“We wanted everyone in Canada to know about us, to get on board and love basketball as much as we do”, she said. “We’ve made our notes and now it’s on us to go out and perform”. “I even swim in it, it doesn’t bother me at all”.
“The main thing today was to play, have fun, and to win”, George added.
TORONTO, ON – JULY 20: Kia Nurse #5 of Canada celebrates a point against the U.S. during the Women’s Baskeball … Given the success of recent Pan-American stars in MMA, it comes as no surprise that MMA fans hold a vested interest in the successes of Team United States and after this weekends successes, it’s safe to say we may well have witnessed some future MMA stars.
“What an incredible moment and to do it in front of our home crowd, it’s hard to put into words”, Achonwa said.
The Canadian boxing team also set itself up for potential medals, with Mandy Bujold of Kitchener, Ont., Ariane Fortin of Saint-Nicolas, Que., and Montreal’s Caroline Veyre all winning their quarter-final bouts on Monday.
Winning the gold medal marks Canada’s best-ever finish at the Pan Am Games and it also marks their second gold medal ever along with the 1995 FIBA Americas Championship. Another win there and Canada will book its place in Rio for 2016.
The Canadians knew they were in tough heading into the tournament when they sent what was essentially an Olympic development team with everybody except Labbe under the age of 23, and many of them being only teenagers.
A petition recently launching to prevent the “All Day” rapper from playing the closing ceremony of the Pan American Games in Toronto later this month has now been signed by a whopping 50,000 people!
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“We’ve spent a lot of time there and haven’t had any issues”, said Railey, sixth in the laser at the 2012 London Olympics. “I think teams now are going to be a little more intimidated to play us, which is an advantage”. The top four bowlers after match play advance to the semifinals and finals.
