Canada's Mac Neil, Turbide swim to gold medals at Commonwealth Games
Mitchell, Kaminski, women's artistic gymnastics team power Canada to 7-medal day
Maggie Mac Neil did what she does best in the women's 100-m butterfly — win gold — to highlight Canada's seven-medal second day of competition at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in England on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Mac Neil finished just two hundredths of a second ahead of Australia's Emma McKeon, who claimed the silver medal. Another Australian, Brianna Throssell, won the bronze medal.
Saturday's medals boosted Canada's total to 11. The Canadian team won 82 at the Games four years ago in Australia.
WATCH l Mac Neil strikes gold in 100m butterfly final:
Mac Neil swam alongside fellow Canadians Katerine Savard and Rebecca Smith in the final, who finished in the fifth and eighth positions, respectively.
On Friday, Mac Neil helped Canada's mixed 4x100 freestyle relay team earn bronze along with Rebecca Smith, Joshua Liendo Edwards and Javier Acevedo.
Turbide breaks records for Para swimming gold
Canadian Para swimmer Nicolas-Guy Turbide also delivered a gold medal, record-setting performance in the 50-m freestyle S13.
The Quebec City native swam for a time of 24.32 seconds to break both the Canadian and the Commonwealth Games records in the event.
WATCH l Nicolas-Guy Turbide swims to gold in 50m para freestyle race:
Turbide narrowly edged Scotland's Stephen Clegg by just 0.01 seconds. Jacob Templeton of Australia finished third.
The victory adds to Turbide's recent success. In June, the 25-year-old struck gold in the men's 100 metre backstroke S13 race at the world para swimming championships in Portugal.
4x100m freestyle teams win bronze
Canadian swimmers kept the podium finishes coming.
Canada's women's 4x100m freestyle relay team captured the bronze medal shortly before Josh Liendo led the way as the Canadian men's team also captured the bronze medal.
Summer McIntosh, 15, who won gold in the women's 400 IM on Friday, had a slower start than many expected as the first swimmer. Still, Canada's Katerine Savard and Rebecca Smith kept pace with their competitors to set the stage for Maggie Mac Neil's dominant anchor leg, nearly pushing Canada to silver with a time of 3:37.25.
WATCH l Canadian women's 4x100m freestyle relay team grabs bronze medal:
The Canadian women's team won silver in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with Mac Neil being the only swimmer to compete in both events.
On the men's side, Liendo won the initial leg, with strong swims from Ruslan Gaziev, Finlay Knox and Javier Acevedo pushing Canada into the third spot and bronze medal position with a time of 3:13.01.
The podium in the men's event perfectly mirrored that of the women's event with Australia taking top spot and England capturing the silver medal.
WATCH l Canada's men's 4x100m freestyle relay team captures bronze:
Kelsey Mitchell wins sprint silver
Canadian track cyclist Kelsey Mitchell raced to her second medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Saturday, winning silver in the women's sprint competition at Lee Valley VeloPark in London, England.
Mitchell, the Olympic champion in the event, reached her second podium in London after winning silver with teammates Lauriane Genest and Sarah Orban in the women's team sprint final on Friday.
"Consistently silver," Mitchell said. "Every competition's tough, you go out there and give your best. Coming here today, obviously you go in to try and win that gold and win every race that you do. Came up a little bit short, but gave it my all. I'm happy to walk away with a silver."
WATCH | Kelsey Mitchell wins 2nd silver medal in London:
The 28-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., made quick work of the ⅛ finals, quarter-finals and semifinals before falling to New Zealand's Ellesse Andrews in the gold final.
Mitchell continues her successful career after transitioning from soccer to cycling in 2017, with her women's sprint silver being the latest addition to a resume that features Olympic, Pan Am and world championship medals.
Women's artistic gymnastics team earns bronze
Canada's women's artistic gymnastics team captured the bronze medal with 152.700 points performance, 5.300 shy of second place Australia.
The Canadian team, consisting of Emma Spence of Cambridge, Ont., Laurie Denommée of Laval, Que., Cassie Lee of Toronto, Jenna Lalonde of Ottawa and Maya Zonneveld, of Kitchener, Ont., placed third in the vault and the balance bem exercises before posting the fourth best performance in the uneven bars and the second-best in the floor exercises.
Hosts England, which claimed the most points in all four exercises, struck gold with 161.100 points.
WATCH l Team Canada grabs another bronze with women's artistic gymnastics:
Kaminski lifts to bronze
Canada's Hannah Kaminski captured the bronze medal in the women's 49-kilogram weightlifting competition later on Saturday.
The 28-year-old from Calgary scored 74 on the snatch and 97 on the clean and jerk. Her combined score of 171 fell just short of the silver medal won by Mauritius' Roilya Ranaivosoa and gold medallist Chanu Saikhom Mirabai of India.
WATCH | Hannah Kaminski claims weightlifting bronze:
"I came into this competition knowing that if I just did what I have been doing in training that I was in contention for a medal, so I haven't quite wrapped my brain around the fact that I did that," Kaminski said.
"And it's just really lit a fire under my butt to get back to training and keep doing what I've been doing, because I know that I'm on the right track. This was just like a kick in the pants from the universe to be like, 'Yep, you're doing what you need to do.'"
Kaminski's resume also includes a gold medal at the 2022 Canadian Invitational and bronze at the San Diego International Open.
Cassidy finishes 4th in marathon
Wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy of Port Elgin, Ont., one of Canada's flag-bearers in Thursday's opening ceremonies, was fourth in the marathon. He finished in one hour 47 minutes 47 seconds.
"The course was tough, technical," Cassidy said. "I love the technical aspects, but the hills and the elevation was a grind for sure."
In other Saturday events, the Canadian women opened the 3x3 wheelchair basketball competition with a 17-1 victory over Kenya on Saturday afternoon. On the men's side, Canada defeated Northern Ireland 13-5 to conclude their pool round play.
Matthew Sarmento scored the lone goal for Canada's men's field hockey team in a 5-1 loss to Wales.
WATCH | The History of Canada's connection to the Commonwealth Games:
With files from The Canadian Press
