Olympic wake-up call: Canada claims debut silver in canoe, cycles to bronze

Canada's Laurence Vincent Lapointe has fantasized about winning an Olympic medal: a battle for greatness on flat water, crossing the finish line in her canoe.

Her silver medal performance in the canoe single 200-metre race on Thursday ensures she'll go down in history among the first women to reach the podium in the event.

While Vincent Lapointe dominates at world championships, the event only just debuted at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Fellow Canadian Katie Vincent was also honoured to be a part of the finals and came in eighth.

CBC Sports's Devin Heroux has more on Vincent Lapointe's race at the Sea Forest Waterway, her dynasty and how the decorated champion nearly didn't make the Games.

WATCH | Laurence Vincent Lapointe wins historic silver:

Here's more of what you may have missed in Tokyo on Thursday:

Warner strikes gold

Canada's Damian Warner is the newest Olympic champion in the decathlon, scoring an Olympic record points total of 9,018 along the way.

Fellow Canadian Pierce LePage finished fifth in his Olympic debut.

CBC Sports' Jamie Strashin has more on Warner's amazing feat and what it took to get to the top of the podium.

Riding to bronze

Canadian Lauriane Genest cycled to bronze in the women's keirin at the Izu Veldrome on Thursday.

The 23-year-old of Lévis, Que., started at the back of the pack, patiently jostling with other riders. As the bell for the final lap rang, Genest dashed forward, slipped through and secured the bronze.

Kesley Mitchell, also of Canada, ended the race in fifth.

De Grasse's golden moment

Canada's Andre De Grasse finally has his gold medal.

In the ceremony Thursday, De Grasse sealed his honour of being the first Canadian to win the men's 200 metres in 93 years.

The 26-year-old from Markham, Ont., completed his set of Olympic medals as he hung the gold around his neck and the Canadian anthem rang out in the Olympic Stadium.

"It feels great. It's heavy, my neck's hurting a bit but it's all worth it," De Grasse said. "It feels surreal and I can't believe I've got my first Olympic gold medal.

"I couldn't sleep. Last night I was just so excited and so pumped up ... now it's finally a dream come true."

He still has one race in Tokyo left to come, the men's 4x100-metre relay team final.

WATCH | Andre De Grasse receives his Olympic gold medal:

14-year-old wins gold with 3 perfect dives

When China's Quan Hongchan dives, it's magical.

The 14-year-old had two dives with perfect scores — 10s across the board — in the women's 10-metre platform final.

The teenager's entries into the water were like a hot knife through butter — effortless.

She won gold, while her fellow Chinese competitor Chen Yuxi took silver at age 15. Australia's Melissa Wu captured bronze.

Karate kicks off

Karate has officially debuted at the Olympic Games, with athletes taking to the tatami at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

The Olympics have two styles of competition: kumite — sparring — and kata — detailed, traditional movements from a selection of 102 forms recognized by the World Karate Federation.

The first-ever medal, a kata bronze, went to Hong Kong's Grace Lau Mo-sheung. Her eyes welled with tears when the karateka found out she had won.

Here are some views from the competition so far:

A quick update on Canada's soccer game

The Canadian women's soccer team gold medal match against Sweden has been rescheduled.

Following concerns from the countries' soccer organizations that the heat would be dangerous for players, the game was moved from the daytime to evening.

Players will now storm the pitch Friday evening at 9 p.m. in Tokyo at Yokohama Stadium. In Canada, that's Friday at 8 a.m. ET.