Wyatt Sanford guarantees Team Canada a medal in boxing, as Summer McIntosh gets ready to swim for another gold

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 take 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 seven, soon to be eight medals.

What to watch today for Team Canada at the Olympics:

• Ellie Black and Ava Stewart to compete in the women’s artistic gymnastics individual all-around final at 12:15 pm ET

• Felix Auger-Aliassime to play in men’s tennis singles quarterfinals (quarter matches beginning at 1 pm ET)

• Summer McIntosh to swim in the 200-meter butterfly final at 2:30 pm ET

• Josh Liendo to swim in the men’s 50-meter freestyle semifinals this afternoon at 2:45 pm ET

• Women’s relay team to swim in the 4×200-meter women’s freestyle relay final at 3:48 pm ET

• Findlay Know to swim in the men’s 200-meter individual medley semifinals at 3:35 pm ET

• Canada vs France in women’s 3-on-3 basketball at 4 pm ET

Here’s what you may have missed on Day 6, including an eighth-medal win for Canada with Summer McIntosh looking to make it nine this afternoon.

Wyatt Sanford guaranteed to medal in men’s 63.5-kilogram boxing

Boxer Wyatt Sanford defeated Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning, setting himself up for a chance to fight for gold in men’s 63.5-kilogram boxing.

Due to the rules of the Olympic boxing competition, however, Sanford is now guaranteed to earn Canada’s eighth medal at the Paris Olympics, although we’re not yet sure which medal it will be. Olympic boxing does not include a bronze-medal fight, making the eventual losers of the upcoming semifinal fights instant bronze medalists.

Sanford is making his Olympic debut after winning gold at last year’s Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile. Canada has not won an Olympic medal in boxing since 1996, when David Defiagbon won a heavyweight silver medal at the Summer Games in Atlanta.

Wyatt will put on the gloves for his semifinal fight on Sunday, Aug. 4 at 6:30 am ET.

Canada qualifies for women’s eight rowing final

Team Canada’s women’s eight rowing team, the defending gold medalists, qualified for Saturday’s final after finishing second in Thursday morning’s repechage with a time of six minutes and 4.81 seconds.

The Canadians finished less than a second behind the American team, with Australia and Italy finishing the repechage in third and fourth place, respectively. These four teams will join Great Britain and Romania, who will win their heats on Monday.

The defending champions return to the Olympics with several veterans from the 2021 Tokyo Games, including Toronto’s Sydney Payne, Calgary’s Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Avalon Wasteneys of Campbell River, BC, and Coxswain Kristen Kit of St. Catharines, Ont.

Kylie Masse, Josh Liendo, Findlay Knox and women’s relay team all advance in the pool

With the second-fastest time in the heats, Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse has advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter backstroke. Masse, a veteran swimmer from LaSalle, Ont., won a silver medal in this event three years ago in Tokyo, and she’s set herself up for another chance to make the podium again in Paris.

Meanwhile, Canada’s 4×200-meter women’s freestyle relay team — consisting of Ottawa’s Julie Brousseau, Edmonton’s Emma O’Croinin, Marie-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivieres, Que. and Ella Jansen of Burlington, Ont. — finished sixth in this morning’s heats, punching Canada’s ticket to this afternoon’s final at 3:48 pm ET.

Also in the pool, reigning world champion Findlay Knox qualified for the men’s 200-meter individual medley semifinals, finishing 13th in this morning’s heats. The semifinal swim goes down this afternoon at 3:35 pm ET.

Josh Liendo of Toronto also advanced this morning, qualifying for the men’s 50-meter freestyle semifinals this afternoon at 2:45 pm ET.

Evan Dunfee finishes fifth in men’s speedwalk

Richmond, BC, speedwalker Evan Dunfee fell short of medalling in the 20-kilometre men’s race walk on Thursday morning, finishing in fifth place with a time of 1:19:16, roughly 21 seconds behind Brian Daniel Pintado of Ecuador, who won gold . Caio Bonfim of Brazil and Alvaro Martin of Spain won silver and bronze, respectively.

Dunfee was in pursuit of his second Olympic medal after winning bronze in the 50-kilometre event at the Tokyo 2020 games, a third-place finish that marked Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in the longest athletics event, which is no longer a part of the Olympic athletics competition.

“I’m really proud of the effort,” I shared with The Canadian Press. “I missed just that little tiny bit to go with it when the pace changed, and yeah, four guys were better than me today.”

Canada falls to 0-2 in women’s basketball after losing to Australia

Team Canada’s chances of making it through to the knockout round of the women’s basketball tournament took a hit on Thursday morning after losing to Australia 70-65.

The Aussies took a 38-32 lead into the half. While Canada was able to trim the deficit down to two points, Australia dug deep to secure the win. Bridgette Carlton led the red and white with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kia Nurse chipped in with 12 points.

Canada now falls to 0-2 in group play, with a slim chance at advancing into the quarters. The Canadians will suit up next against Nigeria on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 7:30 am ET.

Canada falls to Germany for its first loss in 3×3 women’s basketball tournament

Team Canada fell to 2-1 on Thursday morning, losing its third game of the 3×3 women’s basketball tournament 19-15 against Germany.

The Canadians were chasing the Germans from behind from the get go, trailing 6-0 and then 7-1 in the game’s opening minutes. Although Canada managed to tie the game 10-10 with 3:44 remaining, Germany once again pulled ahead to seal the four-point victory.

The Canadian side, led by twin sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe of Edmonton, Alberta, will next take on Spain on Friday.

Shady Elnahas eliminated in men’s judo under-100-kilogram

Shady Elnahas of Toronto was eliminated from the men’s judo under-100-kilogram event on Thursday morning after losing to Daniel Eich of Switzerland in the round of 16.

Elnahas, who won gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games and finished second at the world championships this year, made his Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, finishing this event in a tie for fifth place.

More to come.