Canada Basketball-Maad Issa/AP Photo-Charlie Riddell/Bence Vikase-ICF-CanoeKayak Canada
While we are in the final few days of competition at the World Athletics Championships, Canada’s all-star men’s basketball team begins the FIBA World Cup where they hope to qualify for next year’s Olympic tournament.
Canadian paddlers at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are also looking to secure some Olympic quota spots at Paris 2024, while Brooke Henderson is looking to get back on the leaderboard at her home Open.
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll want to watch this weekend:
Athletics
So far at the IAAF World Championships in Budapest, the hammer throw events have been the highlight for Canada, with Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers sweeping the gold medals. But there is still a lot of great work to come.
is reading: 5 fun facts about world hammer throw champion Ethan Katzberg
On Friday, Canadian athletes Pierce LePage and Damian Warner will have their first day of competition. The two-day event ends on Saturday. They both turn towards the platform in sight. Warner, of course, is the current Olympic champion, but he also has three World Championship medals. LePage is one of Canada’s returning medalists, having captured silver at last year’s world championships from which Warner had to withdraw with a hamstring injury.
Saturday will begin with the women’s marathon at 7:00 a.m. local time in Hungary. Canada will be represented by Natasha Wodak and Sasha Golish. Wodak is the Canadian record holder in the women’s marathon, running a time of 2:23:12 at the Berlin Marathon in September 2022.
Later that day will be the men’s 800m final. Marco Arup qualified through the preliminary heats (where he had time to soften up his opponent and put down five competitors) before clocking a time of 1:44.02 to finish fourth in the semifinals.
Team Canada’s men’s 4×100-meter relay team will head to the track on Friday for heats to determine whether it advances to Saturday’s final. Jerome Blake, Aaron Brown, Andre De Grasse and Brendon Rodney are the defending champions from last year’s world championships, as well as Tokyo 2020 silver medalists in the event. De Grasse is the only Canadian to advance to Friday’s 200m final after Thursday’s semifinal.
Mohamed Ahmed will compete in the men’s 5,000m on Sunday after clocking 13:33.16 in a preliminary tactical heat. Ahmed is an Olympic silver medalist in the distance from Tokyo 2020.
The men’s marathon will be held on Sunday, the last day of the tournament. Canada will be represented by Rory Linklater, Ben Pressner and Justin Kent. Linklater boasts a best of 2:10:24, which he set at last year’s world championships in Eugene, Oregon. Preisner had a personal best of 2:10:17. Kent has a personal best of 2:13:07.
Basketball
Next Friday will witness the start of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The major men’s basketball event is held every four years and also serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympic tournament.
READ: Star-studded men’s basketball team seeks Canada’s breakthrough at FIBA World Cup
Canada currently ranks 15th in the world, and is located in Group Eight, where it will face France (5), Latvia (29) and Lebanon (43).
Things are off to a great start for Team Canada, who will face France at the start of the tournament on Friday, August 25 at 9:30 a.m. ET. This is followed by matches against Lebanon on Sunday, August 27 at 5:45 a.m. ET, and Latvia on Tuesday, August 29 at 9:30 a.m. ET. All of these matches are held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
With several NBA players in its lineup, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Luguentz Dort, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, and Nickel Alexander-Walker, Team Canada faces some serious expectations.
To qualify for the second round of the tournament, which takes place from August 31 to September 4, Canada must finish among the top two teams in its group. The second group stage then determines who will advance to the playoff round.
Canada could qualify for Paris 2024 if it finishes among the top two teams in the Americas region at the FIBA World Cup.
Canoe/Kayak Sprint
The 2023 ICF World Regatta Championships are in full swing in Duisburg, Germany. In addition to the medals, Olympic quota positions in Paris 2024 are also at stake.
A Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist in the women’s C-2500m with now-retired Laurence Vincent Lapointe, Katie Vincent will be gunning for a spot for Canada in the same event with new teammate Sloane McKenzie. They finished sixth in the event at the 2022 World Championships, when Vincent won three gold medals and one bronze in events not included in the Olympic programme.
On the men’s side, Craig Spence and Alex Plumteux line up in the C-2500m. C-2 boats must finish in the top eight in Duisburg to win Olympic spots. The women’s final is scheduled to be held on Saturday, and the men’s final is scheduled to be held on Sunday.
In other rowing events on the Olympic programme, Connor Fitzpatrick will start the men’s C-1 1000m, the final of which will take place on Saturday morning. Sofia Jensen is competing in the women’s C-1 200m and will try to fight her way into the final on Friday. In both events, competitors must finish in the top five to give the country an Olympic quota.
In kayak events, Canada is represented by Michelle Russell in the women’s K-1500m and Cameron Law in the men’s K-1 1000m, two events in which the top six finishers will earn an Olympic quota for their country. The finals of these events are scheduled to take place on Saturday.
In the women’s and men’s K-2500 metres, the top six countries will receive Olympic quotas. Courtney Stott and Madeleine Schmidt will be the Canadian representatives in the competition, while Pierre-Luc Poulin and Simon McTavish will be the men’s representatives. The finals of these events will be contested on Sunday.
Stott, Natalie Davison, Riley Melanson and Toshka Bechara-Hripaka compete in the women’s 500m K4. Laurent Lavigne, Nicholas Matveev, McTavish and Poulin make up the men’s K-4 500m crew. In both events, Olympic quotas will be awarded to the top 10 countries, but this must include four different continents. These finals will be held on Friday.
Women’s golf
The Women’s Canadian Open takes place this weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.
Leading the 15 Canadians in the field is Brooke Henderson, who calls winning the event in 2018 a highlight of his career. At the age of 25, Henderson has won 13 LGPA championships, but only those at home.
is reading: Brooke Henderson’s legendary 13 victories on the LPGA Tour
“Every tournament I play in, I think about that moment, all the good things that happened and everything that worked. We strive for that and I still strive for that every day,” Henderson said of the 2018 win. “But just knowing that I can do it And to be able to do that here in Canada was amazing. And then I know that defending your title is probably the hardest thing, but I enjoy everyone here, the atmosphere, and those things make me a little bit calmer, a little bit more at ease and having to play. But these feelings are amazing, I’m so lucky to win and I really want to do it again.
The field contains nine of the top 10 women in the world rankings.
Golf for men
On the men’s side, Nick Taylor and Corey Connors will compete in the PGA Tour Championship, held at Eastlake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. This tournament is for the top 30 golfers on the tour this year.
Taylor won the Canadian Open last June with a 72-foot eagle putt, the first time a Canadian has won the National Open since 1954.
is reading: The most important moments in Canadian golf history
