Five things to watch in Paris on Wednesday, July 31

PARIS — From Canada's dramatic women's soccer preliminary round finale to Summer McIntosh's hunt for more hardware, here are five things to look out for at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, July 31:

STILL IN THE FIGHT

The Canadian women's soccer team continues its dramatic run at the Paris Olympics when it faces Colombia in its preliminary-round finale in Nice. The defending Olympic champions have a chance to move on to the quarterfinals with a win despite being deducted six points by FIFA as part of the fallout from a spying scandal. Earlier wins over New Zealand and France gave the Canadians a shot to advance despite the heavy penalty. Canada has appealed the six-point penalty, and a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport could come before the game.

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FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY

Summer McIntosh returns to the pool in search of more Olympic hardware to add to her packed trophy case. The 17-year-old from Toronto looks for her third medal in Paris on Wednesday when she swims in the 200-metre butterfly, starting with heats in the morning. She is a two-time world champion in the event. McIntosh won gold in the women's 400-metre individual medley on Monday and silver in the 400 freestyle on Saturday.

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DIVING DUO'S DEBUT

Canadian diver Caeli McKay is back at the Olympics with a new partner and an eye on improving on her fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. Calgary's McKay and Ottawa's Kate Miller make their Olympic debuts as a tandem in Wednesday's women's 10-metre synchronized platform. McKay came back from a badly sprained ankle to finish fourth in the event with Meaghan Benfeito three years ago in Tokyo. McKay and Miller have had a successful partnership leading up to Paris, including a silver medal at a World Cup event in Berlin earlier this year. Regina's Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., won bronze in the men's 10m platform synchro on Monday.

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SABRE RATTLING

Canada has enjoyed unprecedented fencing success at the picturesque Grand Palais, with Hamilton's Eleanor Harvey winning the country's first-ever medal in the sport with a bronze in women's foil. They came close to another medal the day before that, as Fares Arfa of Laval, Que., defeated the three-time defending Olympic men's sabre champion before losing to the eventual gold medallist in a close quarterfinal. Arfa looks to build on that run as he leads Canada's sabre team in action on Wednesday. Up first for Canada will be a quarterfinal match against top-ranked South Korea. The South Koreans are led by Oh Sang-uk, the individual sabre gold medallist who beat Arfa in the quarterfinals.

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ONE MO OLYMPICS

Few athletes in any sport can claim to have appeared in five consecutive Olympic Games. Table tennis player Mo Zhang of Vancouver is one of them. The 35-year-old Zhang made her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games, and had her best results at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago after finishing ninth in both the singles and mixed doubles competitions. Zhang faces France's Jia Nan Yuan in the singles Round of 32 on Wednesday after opening with a 4-0 win over Chile's Paulina Vega.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.

The Canadian Press