Penny Oleksiak hadn't planned on staying to the end of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The original plan was to be home before the Olympics was finished. After winning 4 swimming medals, the 16-year-old carried the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony in Rio.
Oleksiak won the gold (100m freestyle) and silver (100m butterfly) in individual events. The bronze medals came in team events with the 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x200m freestyle relay. She shared the gold with Simone Manuel of the United States with each swimmer putting up a 52.7 seconds mark.
Oleksiak led the way for swimming medals and Canadian women's dominance early in the 2016 Olympics. The other women's swimming medals were bronze medals for Kylie Masse (women's 100m backstroke) and Hilary Caldwell (women's 200m backstroke). Women won 12 of the first 13 medals for Canada.
The women's rugby team took bronze. Rosie MacLennan, who was the Canadian flag bearer in the Opening Ceremony, once again won a gold medal on the trampoline and Brianne Theisen-Eaton's remarkable bronze in the heptathlon. MacLennan became the first Canadian athlete to successfully defend a goal medal in the Summer Games.
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Andre De Grasse is very fast but not as fast as Usain Bolt of Jamaica. The budding bromance between the two sprinters got more attention, such as the exchange late in the 200m semifinal.
De Grasse did take the silver medal in the 200m race behind Bolt, losing by .24 seconds with 19.78 for Bolt and 20.02 for De Grasse. He won the bronze in the 100m, finishing behind Bolt and Justin Gatlin of the United States. De Grasse was part of the 4×100m relay that took the bronze. The Canadians originally finished 4th in that race, but the U.S. was disqualified for an illegal baton exchange.
He became the first Canadian to win medals in the three sprint events at one Olympic Games.
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In the Olympics, you have to beat the best athletes in the world, even if they are from your country. The two Canadian women's beach volleyball teams played each other to reach the quarterfinals. Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley swept fellow Canadians Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas 21-16, 21-11 to remain undefeated to that point. Pavan and Bansley were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual gold-medal winner Germany.
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Ashton Eaton supported his wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton, during the Olympics by wearing a Canada hat. But Ashton is a U.S. athlete in the decathlon while Brianne is a Canadian athlete in the heptathlon.
Some on social media express displeasure over Ashton's hat choice. The world is filled with these types of relationships. Hell, I want that kind of relationship. Everyone knows why Ashton wore the hat. Everyone knew Ashton would root for the Canadian in that race. It's just a hat.
CanadianCrossing.com Olympics coverage
Canada finished in the number 10 position with 22 medals: 4 gold, 3 silver, and 15 bronze medals. Canada hadn't won as many as 4 gold medals since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
The 22 medals tied Atlanta 1996 (3-11-8) for the highest total in a non-boycotted summer Games. For the first time since 1976 in Montreal, Canadian women won more medals (16) than the men (6). Canada's women also earned 16 medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
I'm sorry everyone. I blew it. No excuses
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 12, 2016
Elliotte Friedman has done a lot of events in his career besides the NHL. Friedman called Toronto Raptors games, reported on Toronto Blue Jays games, and even was the studio host for the CFL on CBC. And Friedman has covered the Olympics before 2016. But he was pressed into a play-by-play role after Steve Armitage was forced to withdraw over a diagnosis of chronic heart failure.
Friedman called swimming and diving for the CBC. His most significant moment came when he mixed up the lanes of Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps during the 200-metre individual medley gold medal race.
"I'm sorry everyone. I blew it. No excuses."
But Friedman will be remembered for stepping up and accepting the blame for what happened. The positive reaction was amazing.
Announcers mess up live calls all the time. Chris Cuthbert had the wrong Montréal Canadiens player scoring a game-winning goal in a playoff game on NBCSN 2 years ago. Friedman mixed up the lanes of a pair of swimmers from the same country. And he owned up to that mistake.
And thanks to Canadians, mostly Canadians, who went on social media to let Friedman know things were okay.
2014 Olympics notebook: Canada women's hockey comeback
Mark Lee covered athletics and synchronized diving in Rio for his 13th Olympics. Lee has disappeared from the spotlight after Rogers Sportsnet took over the national hockey rights in Canada in 2014. The CBC laid Lee off in August 2014 after losing the NHL rights. Lee does cover amateur sporting events part-time for Sportsnet.
Whatever the criticism of Lee calling CFL or NHL games, amateur sports is an area where Lee definitely shines. I was glad to get a CBC feed for the gold medal women's hockey game at the 2014 Olympics. Lee was spot on at key moments in overtime with points missed by NBC's #1 hockey crew.
We'll look forward to seeing Mark Lee again in the 2018 Olympics.
CanadianCrossing.com music coverage
The Olympians even got involved with The Tragically Hip final show on Saturday. Ron MacLean, surrounded by Olympians in Rio, gave us a poetic introduction to the last show in Kingston. We even saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the crowd with his black The Tragically Hip shirt. Downie acknowledged the prime minister and also reflected on how poorly the First Nations people had been treated by the rest of Canada.
The numbers from Numeris are off the charts. The broadcast reached 11.7 million across CBC television, radio, and digital platforms. The average audience was 4.04 million. Canada only has about 35 million.
CBC made things very easy for people not in Canada to see the concert. I streamed it with ease on the CBC Music YouTube channel. The post-show from CBC Music was a nice complement to the evening. And a special thanks for not bleeping the f-word that Gord Downie sang in the concert. Another reason why Canadians are cool.
The Olympics and that concert were unifying forces for a country. While the Olympics are really good at unification, the concert did so much more.
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photo credit: CBC Sports
screen capture: Twitter/FriedgeHNIC
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