2024 Olympics Day 9 Recap: Ethan Katzberg wins gold, Wyatt Sanford claims bronze, as Summer McIntosh and Andre De Grasse miss a shot at another medal
Katzberg and Sanford up Canada's medal haul in Paris to 17, while McIntosh and De Grasse miss their shot at more medals
While the watching experience and timing for the 2024 Paris Olympics isn't quite as challenging for Canadian viewers as it was for Tokyo 2020 or Beijing 2022, a good chunk of action during these Games happens when plenty of Canadians are fast asleep.
Whether you were crushing some zzz's, busy at work, had family activities to partake in or just didn't have a chance to tune in, we have you covered throughout these Olympics from start to finish, with Team Canada currently sitting at 17 medals.
Here's what you may have missed on Day 9, including a gold medal in hammer throw, a bronze medal in men's boxing, Summer McIntosh missing a chance to make even more Canadian history, and a disappointing run for Andre De Grasse in the men's 100-metre.
Ethan Katzberg makes history en route to winning gold
Ethan Katzberg, the reigning world champion in men's hammer throw, continued to show his dominance in the event with a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, and he did it in historic fashion.
The Nanaimo, B.C., native got the final off to a great start, recording a length of 84.12 metres on his very first throw, which was enough to seal the victory for the Canadian.
Katzberg now becomes the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold in hammer throw, as well as the youngest hammer throw gold medallist in Olympic history at 22 years old. His gold medal also represents Canada's first medal in this event in 100 years.
Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C, Canada just won Canada’s first ever gold medal in hammer throw and their first medal in the event in 100 years 🤯 pic.twitter.com/DaVm2K6RDu
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 4, 2024
GOLD FOR CANADA 🇨🇦 🔨
HISTORIC HAMMER THROW GOLD
Ethan Katzberg becomes the first Canadian Olympic hammer throw champion.
He’s also the youngest ever hammer throwing Olympic champion. pic.twitter.com/M3gys3lJUn— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
Here’s some history for you.
🇨🇦Ethan Katzberg’s opening hammer throw of 84.12m would have won every Olympic competition in history except the Olympic record throw in 1988.
Three throws remaining. Three throws from historic gold.— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
Fellow Canadian Rowan Hamilton finished ninth in the men's hammer throw final with a distance on 76.59 metres.
Katzberg's gold pushes Canada's medal count in Paris to 17, including five golds, four silvers and eight bronze medals. Canadian Olympic fans, as you might have assumed, were beyond impressed with Katzberg's record-setting performance.
Can we please talk about my new favourite Olympian?
The eyebrows. The ‘stache. The hair. The one commentators called “skinny.” The impossibly ridiculous throw - first try. Having a great time, while everyone else is STRESSED.
Ethan Katzberg, everyone!#Olympics #Paris2024 https://t.co/iKWK20F0Io— Sarah Kate Marsh 🌻🍉🕊️ (@sarahkatemarsh) August 4, 2024
Absolutely fantastic!!!
Ethan Katzberg wins GOLD in hammer throw on his 1st throw!!
Congratulations 🇨🇦— GrizzAlberta (@GrizzAlberta) August 4, 2024
Congratulations to Ethan Katzberg from Nanaimo, British Columbia on winning Gold in the hammer throw. #GoCanada #Paris2024 https://t.co/ATUogyOU6N
— Marc Dalton, M.P. (@MarcDalton) August 4, 2024
👏way to go #EthanKatzberg! Congratulations🥇 https://t.co/o5wVKB0UGr
— Nelda Richardson (@RichardsonNelda) August 4, 2024
Wyatt Sanford takes bronze in men's 63.5kg boxing
Wyatt Sanford had his eyes on the gold medal, but the Nova Scotia native unfortunately settles for bronze after losing his semifinal fight against France's Sofiane Oumiha 4-1.
Despite the semifinal loss, Sanford instantly becomes a bronze medallist due to the rules of Olympic boxing. Since there is no bronze-medal fight in the Olympics, the two fighters to lose in the semifinals become instant bronze medallists.
Wyatt Sanford claims bronze 🥉for #TeamCanada’s first Olympic boxing medal in 28 years 🤩 🥊 https://t.co/mBcj3XglWQ
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) August 4, 2024
Sanford made his Olympic debut in Paris after winning gold at last year's Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile — and boy, did he make his mark. The east-coast fighter becomes Canada's first Olympic boxing medallist since 1996, when David Defiagbon won a heavyweight silver medal at the Summer Games in Atlanta.
While Canadians across the country are impressed with Sanford's bronze-medal performance, the people in his hometown of Kennetcook, N.S., couldn't be more proud.
Most Canadian Olympic athletes have community backing. In Wyatt Sanford's case, it's his entire village. Literally.
Tomorrow, most of the 473 people who live in Kennetcook, N.S. will gather in Findley Park again. To watch Wyatt try to punch his ticket into the gold medal bout: pic.twitter.com/LBPiRc4t1c— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) August 3, 2024
Congratulations to Wyatt Sanford and Team Canada on securing the bronze medal! A remarkable achievement and Canada's first Olympic boxing medal in 28 years. 🥉🇨🇦
— Kashif Chaudhary (@kashifchudhari) August 4, 2024
Great job by Nova Scotia's 🇨🇦 Wyatt Sanford in getting the🥉 in boxing. France's Oumiha's solid defense and pitty-pat-punching was enough to get the Frenchman the victory. Sanford will be a better pro, and his bronze represents Canada's first boxing medal in 24 years. Woo!
— Edge O. Erin (@EdgeOErin1) August 4, 2024
Congratulations Wyatt Sanford🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦. An early morning bronze medal in boxing. We are proud of you.
— kkathypom54 (@kathypom54) August 4, 2024
Canadian men's and women's medley relay teams fall short of podium finishes
Summer McIntosh, who had a chance to win a Canadian record-setting fifth medal this afternoon at the 2024 Olympics, will have to settle for four medals as she and her teammates finished fourth in the 4x100-metre women's medley relay.
The women's medley relay team — which consisted of McIntosh, Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus and Maggie Mac Neil — came very close to sneaking into third place, finishing .68 seconds behind the People's Republic of China, which won the bronze medal. The United States and Australia won gold and silver, respectively.
FOURTH FOR CANADA 🇨🇦
The Canadian women finish just off the podium. Fought until the end.
Canada finishes with eight medals in the pool at Paris 2024. What a performance by the team. pic.twitter.com/zPdFROvcfV— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
Also in the pool, the men's 4x100-metre medley relay team missed out on a podium finish as well, finishing fifth in this afternoon's final.
Despite the disappointing finish, the Canadian men had a very successful Olympic Games in the pool, finishing with three medals among the group. Ilya Kharun led the charge with bronze in both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly, while Josh Liendo will take home a silver medal in the men's 100-metre butterfly.
FIFTH FOR CANADA 🇨🇦
The Canadian men close out their Olympics with a fifth place finish in the medley relay.
Just off the national record. A very successful meet for the Canadian men who won three medals for Canada. pic.twitter.com/slAUtFwxYe— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
Andre De Grasse will not run for gold in men's 100-metre
For the first time in his storied Olympic career, Andre De Grasse will not be running in the men's 100-metre final after failing to qualify in his semifinal heat. De Grasse ran his best time of the year, crossing the finish line in 9.98 seconds, but that wasn't enough to push him into the final.
A season best time for 🇨🇦 Andre De Grasse but it won’t be enough to move into the final
First time in his career he won’t advance to an Olympic final.
Which is quite remarkable pic.twitter.com/slc7MzQrHx— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
De Grasse, who won bronze medals in this event in both 2016 in Rio and 2021 in Tokyo, will now shift his focus to the 200-metre event. Despite the unfortunate finish, De Grasse is still proud of his run in the 100-metre semis.
Just finished speaking to 🇨🇦 Andre De Grasse.
He said he would have basically needed a personal best to qualify. Stacked field. He really liked his start and top end speed.
Now shifting focus to trying to defend his 200m title starting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hlagibTD5X— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 4, 2024
More news from Team Canada on Day 9
Canadian men's basketball team is set to play against France in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 12 p.m. ET
Reigning world champion Camryn Rogers advances to the women's hammer throw final, which takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 2 p.m. ET
Archer Eric Peters comes up short in his bid to reach the men's quarterfinals
Canada's women's basketball team is eliminated from the Olympic tournament after losing to Nigeria
Defending men's decathlon champion Damien Warner described yesterday's decision to withdraw from the competition as his "worst nightmare"