​The team that “fell short” But overcame all in Paris

Two giants in the hammer throw, a very young phenom in the pool, and a gritty soccer team that fought back.

These are some of the highlights from the point of view of the Against the Flow blog on the Paris Olympics.

Nothing attracts attention and kudos like Gold at the Olympics.  Canadian Summer McIntosh won three gold medals and a silver at the Paris Games. She is a wonder at just age 17, and she could well return for still more medals at the next summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. 

Then there were the two hefty hammer throwers, Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers, both world champions, who captured gold medals for Canada in Paris. For Rogers this was Canada’s first gold in a women’s track and field event since 1928. That’s 96 years ago, folks.

And yet, this country’s greatest triumph at these Olympics occurred not in track and field or in the pool but on the soccer pitch.  That was where the women’s soccer team refused to die after the coaching staff’s unacceptable use of drones to spy on opposing teams. The resulting scandal left the entire Canadian Olympic team in France embarrassed and down heartened.

The women’s team was handed a six-point penalty for the drone scandal but overcame that with a win against Columbia.
 
Vanessa Gilles's soccer teammates know her as "the magnet, for her knack of attracting the ball at just the right time. But she truly showed her true character and grit scoring the winning goal in her team’s comeback victory over host France last Sunday. Then, he spoke her mind clearly and with great force:

​"We haven't slept in the last three days. We haven't eaten. We've been crying. Like, I wouldn't say they're ideal performing situations. But we've held each other through it, and we've had absolutely nothing to lose," Gilles said while still standing on the field.                              

"So, what's given us energy is each other, is our determination, is our pride to prove people wrong, our pride to represent this country when all this shit is coming out about our values, about our representation as Canadians. 
​
"It's not us. We're not cheaters. We're damn good players. We're a damn good team. We're a damn good group and we proved that today."

Bravo!​

Vanessa Gilles turns for the net
​against France 

Unfortunately for the women’s team battlers, their dream ended last Saturday against Germany when they lost in a penalty shoot-out, after a 0-0 tie in regulation time.

The Toronto Globe and Mail said in a headline that the team had “fallen short”. Hardly, that defeat was a triumph for themselves and their predecessors on the long road for the credibility of women’s sport—such as this country’s soccer legend Christine Sinclair. It was also a triumph for our sometimes-viewed-as-underdog, country of Canada. 

    Summer McIntosh with her gold medal in the 200 metre individual medley​