Hola again! Or perhaps I should say adiós—the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games are at an end, with Canada finishing in style. Team Canada shattered the existing national record for total medals and gold medals ever won at the Pan Am Games with 214 total medals (77 of which were gold). The existing records, set in 1999, were 196 total medals with 64 gold.
Canada will add to this Games’ total on the final day, when the women’s baseball and softball teams take on the United States for gold. In addition, the Men’s volleyball team faces off against Puerto Rico for the bronze.
Overall, and not unsurprisingly, it has been a wildly successful Pan Am Games for Team Canada. There have been ups and downs, records were broken, and there was certainly a taste of the up-and-comers for the Rio 2016 Games.
Notable performances include back-to-back gold by Andre DeGrasse in the men’s 100m and 200m. These were thrilling races to watch, particularly the 200m where DeGrasse came from behind for a one one-hundredth of a second victory over the second place finisher. Canada also captured gold and bronze in the women’s road race (cycling), while the swim team had an excellent run in the pool with a whopping 27 medals won. Cool fact: every Canadian female swimmer at the Games won a medal. Canada also made strides in boxing, where Arthur Biyarslanov won gold in a split decision against Cuban boxer Yasnier Toledo. New faces won on the water, with Benjamin Russell and Gabriel Beuchesne-Sevigny taking gold in the canoe doubles. I will pass my severely limited word count if I keep going here, but there were many, many more victories and stories to follow—CBC and the Toronto Star have decent coverage of most events, so hop on over to see what was of interest to you.
Word constraints aside, I can’t publish this article without mentioning team sports, particularly basketball, in which both teams had great tournaments. The women took gold while the men earned silver—for those who missed it, here’s the recap:
After mostly impeccable play through their first four games (i.e.: 3 round-robin and a gritty overtime win in the semi-final against the U.S.), the Canadian men appeared to be in good shape heading into the gold medal match against Brazil. Yet head coach Jay Triano, Anthony Bennett, and company did not have an answer for Brazil’s Big Men in the final, falling short in a too little, too late comeback in the final frame. Nevertheless, it was a good tournament for the Canadians, with 18-year-old breakout star Jamal Murray leading the way against some tougher, more experienced opponents. This should be a team to watch come 2016.
On the women’s side, Canada scratched and clawed its way to gold in a final, well-deserved victory over the United States. Led by the superb play of athletic basketball phenom 19-year-old Kia Nurse, Canada took a stranglehold early in the first quarter and never looked back. There was however a scary moment in the third quarter, when Nurse collided head-to-head with U.S. counterpart Moriah Jefferson. Jefferson did not re-enter the action, but after a brief trip to the locker room, Nurse got back in the game to help seal the victory. Team Canada’s stifling defense, superior offensive rebounding, and quality shot selection by all on the floor ultimately won them the tournament. This year’s Pan-Am gold was Canada’s first ever in women’s basketball. This is a relatively young but increasingly experienced group—and they will definitely be a force to be reckoned with at the Olympics come next year.
And that, sports fans, concludes the Pan-Ams and coincidentally, the Benchwarmer Report for Spring 2015. Best of luck with final exams—and see you all next term!
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