Wyatt Sanford ups Canada’s medal haul to 16 with bronze in men’s boxing

August 4, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Wyatt Sanford ups Canada’s medal haul to 16 with bronze in men’s boxing

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 part 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 16 medals.

What to watch from Team Canada today:

Here’s what you may have missed on Day 9, including a bronze medal in men’s boxing.

Canada’s Wyatt Sanford, celebrates after defeating Uzbekistan’s Ruslan Abdullaev in their men’s 63.5kg quarterfinal boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)

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 medalist 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 medalists.

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 medalist 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, NS, couldn’t be more proud.