Team Canada at Tokyo 2020: Day 1
The first full day of competition at Tokyo 2020 sees Michael Woods, Sarah Pavan & Melissa Humana-Paredes, and Leylah Fernandez in action, among many other Team Canada athletes and teams.
You can check out the official schedule of Canadians competing today at the bottom of this page and read on for the details of what you’ll be watching for in each sport.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Competition Schedule and Results
Road Cycling: Woods rides for podium in road race
The longest event at the Olympic Games, the 234km men’s road race, will start in Musashinomori Park and finish up at the Fuji International Speedway. Michael Woods, coming off being the lead rider for his pro team at the Tour de France, will be Canada’s targeted rider, with support teammates from Guillaume Boivin and Hugo Houle.
Artistic Gymnastics: Cournoyer reps Canada
The artistic gymnastics competition begins with the men’s qualification round. As the lone Canadian, René Cournoyer will be in mixed group six within subdivision two as he looks to be among the 24 men who will compete in the individual all-around final.
Fencing: Gordon en garde in men’s sabre
Shaul Gordon will be the first Canadian fencer on the piste as the men’s individual sabre event will have all rounds of competition.
Taekwondo: Yong makes long awaited debut
After more than a decade as a national team athlete, Yvette Yong will finally compete at the Olympic Games. The women’s 49kg event will start with the Round of 16 and end when the medals are awarded.
Swimming: First Canadians in the pool
Reigning world champion Margaret Mac Neil will get things going for Canada at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in the women’s 100m butterfly where she’ll be joined by Katerine Savard in the heats. Then it will be Sydney Pickrem and Tessa Cieplucha in the women’s 400m individual medley heats. Gabe Mastromatteo will be in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats. Finishing off the session will be the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay heats.
For the 100m events, a top-16 time is needed to advance to the next-day semifinals. For the 400m events, a top-eight time gives swimmers a shot at a medal in the finals.
Beach Volleyball: Both Canadian teams hit the sand
World champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes will kick things off for Canada as they play their first preliminary round game in Pool A against Dutch duo Stam and Schoon, ranked 41st in the world. Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson will be in the nighttime session as they play their first Pool C match against X.Y. Xia and Wang of China, ranked 10th in the world.
Rowing: Six Canadian boats on the water
The three Canadian boats that competed on Day 0 (Trevor Jones in men’s single sculls, Carling Zeeman in women’s single sculls, Jessica Sevick & Gabrielle Smith in women’s double sculls) all advanced directly to the next round of their events, so no repechages for them!
That puts the Day 1 spotlight on 2018 World Champions and 2019 World bronze medallists Caileigh Filmer & Hillary Janssens in the heats for the women’s pair.
Also competing in heats are: Conlin McCabe & Kai Langerfeld in the men’s pair; Jennifer Casson & Jill Moffatt in the women’s lightweight double sculls; Patrick Keane & Maxwell Lattimer in the men’s lightweight double sculls; as well as the crews of the women’s and the men’s fours.
The pairs need a top three finish to advance directly to the semifinals. The lightweight doubles need to finish top two to get to the semis. For the fours, a top two finish puts them straight into the final. Otherwise, the second chance repechage awaits.
Tennis: Women on court for opening day
The first tennis players on court for Canada will be Leylah Fernandez in women’s singles and Gaby Dabrowski and Sharon Fichman in women’s doubles. Fernandez (ranked 72nd in the world) takes on Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine (ranked 46th in the world) on Court 6 in their first ever meeting. At the same time, Dabrowski and Fichman face off against Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani of Brazil on Court 8.
Badminton: Three duos in action
The first day of badminton group play will see all three of Canada’s doubles teams on court. Jason Ho-Shue and Nyl Yakura will compete against Indonesia in men’s doubles. They will be followed by Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai facing Netherlands in women’s doubles as Joshua Hurlburt-Yu and Josephine Wu get going in mixed doubles against Thailand.
Boxing: Sanford first into the ring
The first Canadian to step into the ring will be Wyatt Sanford in the men’s welterweight division. He’ll be taking on Merven Clair of Mauritius in the Round of 32. Clair comes in as the higher ranked boxer, at number 12 in the IOC Boxing Task Force Rankings used to determine Olympic qualification.
Equestrian: Dressage Day 1
Canada’s dressage team of Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, Lindsay Kellock and Chris von Martels will get into the arena for the Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier Day 1. This is the first of three phases in the team event and the first of four phases in the individual event.
Table Tennis: Canada’s trio ready to play
Olympic veterans Eugene Wang and Mo Zhang will be first in action for Canada in the Round of 16 for mixed doubles, the first time this event has been included on the Olympic program. Olympic rookie Jeremy Hazin will then get to play in the first round of men’s singles
Field Hockey: Team Canada opens against Germany
Just as it was five years ago, the first day of Olympic field hockey sees the Red Caribou taking on Germany. The Germans, who won bronze at Rio 2016 are ranked fifth in the world while Canada sits at number 10.
Soccer: Game 2 for Team Canada
After a 1-1 draw with Japan in their opening game, Canada will be looking to come away with a win against Chile and three points in the standings.
Softball: Team Canada looks to bounce back
With a 1-1 record following their 4-0 opening game win against Mexico and then a tight 1-0 loss to the United States, Canada will go for win number two against Australia. The Aussie Spirit are also 1-1. They opened with an 8-1 loss to Japan that ended after five innings before defeating Italy 1-0.
Volleyball: Team Canada opens Olympic tournament
The very first match of the men’s volleyball tournament at Tokyo 2020 will see Canada taking on Italy. The ninth-ranked Italians sit one spot ahead of Canada in the FIVB World Rankings. At Rio 2016, Canada beat Italy in pool play but the Italians went on to win the silver medal.
Water Polo: A first game a long time coming
Canada’s first opponent in their return to Olympic women’s water polo for the first time since 2004 will be Australia, who won bronze at the 2019 FINA World Championships. Canada is coming off a fourth-place finish at the FINA World League Super Final in June.