Paris Olympics digest: Early tennis victories; another big day in swimming; Ottawa punishes Canada Soccer

Olympic highlights for July 28

• Soccer: Canada’s sports minister Carla Qualtrough says the government is withholding funding from Soccer Canada following a spying investigation that used drones against opponents, stating “There is a deeply concerning pattern of behaviour at Canada Soccer.” The Olympic champions will face France at 3 p.m. ET. kicking off their title defence. Early Friday morning, the Canadian Olympic Committee removed Canada’s head coach, Bev Priestman, from the team amid the scandal.
• Swimming: Another big day in Canadian swimming sees Maggie Mac Neil compete in the women’s 100m butterfly. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Mac Neil won three swimming medals and was chosen female athlete of the Games. While Canada failed to qualify in the men’s 400m individual medley and women’s 100m breaststroke, Blake Tierney makes the semi-finals for the men’s 100m backstroke. Mary-Sophie Harvey also qualifies for the 200m freestyle semifinals.
• Tennis: Canadian tennis great Felix Auger-Aliassime wins his singles opener with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over American Marcos Giron while Biana Andreescu accomplishes the same with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson. Leylah Fernandez will face Czech player Karolina Muchova in what will seem to be a tough match. The singles first round game was meant to take place Saturday but has been one of the many events rescheduled due to the rainy weather.

In photos: Day two of the Paris Olympics

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Here’s what’s happening today, July 28, at the Olympics

• Surfing: Sanoa Dempfle-Olin will be Canada’s first surfing Olympian when she takes on the waves in Tahiti, Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The 19-year-old from Tofino, B.C. will compete in the first round, third heat.
• Basketball: The United States men’s basketball team makes its highly anticipated Paris debut against Serbia. The U.S. roster is stacked with top-flight NBA talent, including LeBron James, Steph Curry and many more. The gold-medal favourite Americans, coached by Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, should cruise through the group stage of the tournament.
• Gymnastics: The qualification round for women’s gymnastics begins, with Canada’s Ellie Black, Cassie Lee, Ava Stewart and Aurélie Tran competing at noon ET. Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team made their Paris debut at 5:40 a.m. ET. today.

What to watch for tomorrow, July 29, at the Olympics

• Swimming: Summer McIntosh will dive in with her heat for the women’s 400m individual medley at 5:06am ET, along with Canadian teammate Ella Jansen at 5am ET. Canada’s Kyle Masse and Ingrid Wilm will also make a splash in their heats for the women’s 100m backstroke.
• Basketball: Coming off a 68-48 loss against Spain days before the Games began, the fifth-ranked Canada’s women’s basketball team will take on France –ranked no. 7 in the world – at 11:15am ET.
• Gymnastics: Team Canada’s men’s gymnastics team is set to compete in the finals at 11:30am ET, after claiming the eighth and final spot by less than a quarter of a point over Turkey on Saturday.
• Judo: Top-ranked Canadian judoka Christa Deguchi will compete in the round of 16 in women’s 57kg judo. The two-time world champion is making her Olympic debut this summer, and she hasn’t missed the podium in an international competition since August 2023 – a string of 10 straight tournaments.

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