On Sunday, Ethan Katzberg left no doubt as to who is the top male hammer thrower in the world.
The 22 year old, who grew up in Nanaimo but now calls Kamloops home, dominated the men’s hammer throw event at Paris 2024 en route to an Olympic gold medal.
Today, fellow British Columbian Camryn Rogers completed the Canadian sweep, as she claimed gold in the women’s event with a top throw of 76.97 metres.
The Richmond native topped the podium over Annette Echikunwoke of the United States and Zhao Jie of China, who earned silver and bronze with throws of 75.48 and 74.27 metres respectively.
The golden sweep by Rogers and Katzberg is just the third time that one country has topped the podium in both hammer throw events at the same Olympics.
While there was more Canadian magic in hammer throw today, the magic faded quickly for the men’s basketball team after cruising through the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record.
Up against the host France in the quarterfinals, the Canadians fell way behind early and were unable to overcome the deficit.
Despite a valiant effort from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company, cutting a 19-point French lead to just five points in the fourth quarter, an 82-73 loss saw France move on and Canada eliminated from the tournament.
Back on the track, another notable Canadian storyline from Tuesday’s action was Saskatchewan’s Savannah Sutherland.
A day shy of her 21st birthday, Sutherland ran the women’s 400m hurdle semifinal in 53.80, which was just enough to get her into Thursday’s final.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, reigning Olympic gold medallist Andrew DeGrasse will be competing in the men’s 200m semifinal.
He’ll be joined by fellow Canadians Brendon Rodney and Aaron Brown, who both qualified for the semi through the repechage round today.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Leah Hennel/Canadian Olympic Committee.
