Several members of Team Canada, including star swimmer Penny Oleksiak, landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport around 6 a.m., with another group of athletes scheduled to arrive at around the same time early Wednesday.
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She was the story of the first half of the Olympics, winning gold in the 100-metre freestyle, silver in the 100 butterfly and bronze in 4×100 and 4×200 relays.
The 16-year-old Torontonian won four medals in the 2016 summer games, including two bronze and one silver.
Canada’s 22 medals placed it 10th in the world for the overall medal count, falling almost 100 medals short of the United States, which took the top spot.
“I got to meet a lot of athletes when I was backstage … holding the flag and getting to walk out and see everyone come up to you and take photos of you, saying that they were born in Canada or they’ve lived in Canada – it’s pretty great”.
“As the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics draw to a close, I would like to thank all athletes from around the world for making these such exciting games”.
Assuming there are no surprise medals Sunday, Canada will equal its best medal haul at a non-boycotted Summer Games. Canada was most dominant in the pool and track, winning six medals in each.
“It’s wonderful what happens when one athlete wins, and that just becomes a bit infectious within the village, and I think that spurred an number of athletes on.” he says.
Members of another star of this year’s Games, Canada’s women’s soccer team, which won bronze in the finals against Brazil, are also expected back Tuesday morning, according to a press release from the Canadian Olympic Committee. We owe that to our athletes.
How to sum up the Rio De Janeiro Olympics.
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The chef de mission of the Canadian Olympic team believes there was a Pan Am effect at work. Gillis, from Antigonish, N.S., finished in two hours 12 minutes 29 seconds, just off the Canadian record set by Toronto’s Jerome Drayton in 1975.
