This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports’ daily email newsletter. Subscribe here to keep up to date with what’s happening in sports.
Canada entered the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England aiming to finish in the top three medal standings.
Consider it mission accomplished. Canadian athletes combined for 92 podium appearances, capped by Michelle Li’s badminton silver medal as competition ended today. The total fell behind only Australia’s 178 and England’s 176.
Hollie Naughton, who became the first Canadian to stand on the squash podium when she took silver, earned the honor of being named Canada’s flag bearer.
Canada leaves England with 10 more medals than it won at the previous Commonwealth Games in 2018. Of the 92 medals, 26 were gold, 11 more than four years ago. Even more amazing, swimmers accounted for seven of those gold medals. And it was 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, fresh off a breakout performance at the world championships, once again leading the way with six podium appearances (two gold, three silver and one bronze) and a record Canadian in the individual 400 meters. medulla Walker Evan Dunfee, who won Olympic bronze in the 50km event, set the national 10km mark on his way to gold. Reigning champions Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes (beach volleyball) and Maude Charron (weightlifting) successfully defended their titles. And all Canadian wrestlers will go home with hardware for a total of 12 podium appearances.
LOOK | Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony:
Commonwealth Games: Closing Ceremony
Watch the closing ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games from Birmingham, England.
For many Canadian summer athletes, the whirlwind from last spring has finally passed, when preparation and qualification for the Tokyo Olympics kicked into high gear. Some swimmers, for example, experienced two national events, an Olympic Games, the world championships and the Commonwealth Games, five separate events in which they were expected to perform at their best.
Now, there is some breathing room. You might see McIntosh at the world junior championships in early September, though it’s fair to wonder how much he’d gain competing against reduced competition. Otherwise, the 2022 season of the International Swimming League was canceled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The World Series begins in October, with a stop in Toronto at the end of the month.
On the other hand, the track athletes will return to the run of their Diamond League season. Canadian and Commonwealth Games shot put champion Sarah Mitton finished third at a meet in Poland over the weekend as she bids for a spot in the Sept. 7-8 finals in Switzerland. The last event before the final will take place on Wednesday in Monaco. Canada’s Aaron Brown, who skipped the Commonwealth Games, is entered in the 200m while Django Lovett will compete in the high jump. Andre De Grasse, who anchored Canada’s golden 4x100m relay team at the worlds, recently said he wasn’t sure if he would return to the track this season amid a lingering foot injury. Live action from Monaco is available on CBC Sports platforms starting at 2 pm ET.
And if you’re still hungry for Olympic sports, then you’re in luck: the Canada Games, an interprovincial youth competition taking place in Niagara, Ontario this year, began yesterday and is also available on CBC Sports platforms via of the closing ceremony on August 21.