Newman’s medal-winning flight caps Team Canada’s Day 12 in athletics

Pole vaulter Alysha Newman reached unprecedented heights in a day full of athletic surprises for Canada at Paris 2024.

The 30-year-old, in her third Olympic Games, set a new Canadian record by clearing 4.85m to win bronze in women’s pole vault. It’s the country’s first medal in pole vaulting since Stockholm 1912, and first ever by a Canadian woman.

There was far less Canadian celebration in the men’s 200m event. Back at Tokyo 2020, there were two Canadians—Andre De Grasse (gold medal) and Aaron Brown (sixth)—in the final. At Paris 2024, there will be none.

In Wednesday’s semifinal, De Grasse finished third in Heat 1, short of an automatic qualifying spot. He’d need to wait and see how the other two heats panned out. In Heat 2, Brown finished seventh (20.57). And in Heat 3, Brendon Rodney finished fifth (20.59).

“A missed opportunity, for sure,” said Brown, who says he lost some fitness after a recent illness. “I just didn’t have enough to bring it home today, and it sucks, but it is what it is.”

When all was said and done, De Grasse’s time of 20.41 was 0.1 seconds shy of reaching the final.

But that was actually a remarkable outcome, given that De Grasse revealed afterwards that he’d re-aggravated a hamstring issue during the 200m heats on Monday. Though he thought it was simply soreness, an ultrasound showed inflammation.

“I just tried to come out here today and see what I could do,” said De Grasse. “But it was going to be really tough to try to come away with a fast time.”

READ: Team Canada officially upgraded to silver in Tokyo 2020 men’s 4x100m relay

De Grasse said he’ll do his best to support his team in the 4x100m relay event, which begins on Thursday. Brown, for his part, is looking past the individual disappointment and towards the upcoming relay.

“I’ve still got a job to do, to represent for my boys and for Canada, and that’s what I’m going to do,” said Brown.

De Grasse also fell short in the 100m semifinal earlier at these Games, despite posting a season-best time of 9.98. But he’s not the only Canadian man to endure a double dose of heartbreak on the track in Paris.

Moh Ahmed came into the first round of the men’s 5000m as a medal favourite, having won silver at Tokyo 2020. But he suffered a fall just before the start of the final lap and couldn’t recover. He would finish 16th in his heat a time of 14:15.76.

Earlier at these Games, Ahmed looked set for the podium in the 10,000m but was passed at the final moment, falling 0.33 seconds short of bronze.

In the same 5000m heat as Ahmed, Thomas Fafard (14:09.37) finished eighth and will compete in Saturday’s final. Ben Flanagan completed the race in 13:59.23 but, by virtue of racing in a much faster heat, will not advance to the final.

Fafard was right behind his teammate on the track when the fall happened.

“I was like, ‘what the f— is going on?'” said Fafard. “I almost stopped to make sure he was fine, but then I had to focus on my race, just try to stay in contact with the front pack and hope for the best in the last lap.”

Competing in his first Olympics, Fafard said he’d dreamed of reaching the final but that the reality hits differently.

“I knew everyone in the field wanted to be in the final,” said Fafard. “But to have a spot in it, that’s pretty crazy.”

Their distance running teammate, Jean-Simon Desgagnés, took part in Wednesday’s super-competitive 3000m steeplechase final. The first-time Olympian would finish 13th in a time of 8:19.31.

In the first round of the women’s 100m hurdles Mariam Abdul-Rashid finished fifth in her heat (12.80), while Michelle Harrison finished eighth in hers (13.40). Abdul-Rashid’s time was good enough to qualify her for Friday’s semifinal, while Harrison heads to the repechage round on Thursday.

And in the men’s 800m first round, Marco Arop came second in his heat in 1:45.74, which sends him through to the semifinal on Friday.

A trio of Canadians took part in the women’s 1500m repechage. But Lucia Stafford (4:04.26), Simone Plourde (4:08.49) and Kate Current (4:08.91) all fell short of the top-three finish in their heats that were needed to advance.