PARIS – Maude Charron lifted Canada to a silver medal Thursday in the women’s 59-kilogram weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics.
The 31-year-old from Rimouski adds a second Olympic medal to her collection. She had previously won gold in Tokyo in 2021 in the 64 kg category, which has since been removed from the Olympic program.
Unlike the pandemic Games in Tokyo, where athletes competed in mostly empty venues, Charron celebrated her podium finish in Paris in front of a raucous crowd, including her family.
“We didn’t say much. We cried most of it. They said, ‘We’re there’. I said, ‘I saw you guys. I heard you.’ We’re just so glad that we can share this moment with them,” she said of her family.
“It was amazing and so nice to be with a crowd. In weightlifting, we don’t have that big of a crowd, but it’s so amazing.”
Charron lifted 106 kilograms in the snatch and 130 kilograms in the clean and jerk for a total of 236 kilograms to win Canada’s 20th medal at the Paris Games.
China’s Luo Shifang, the reigning world champion, won gold with an Olympic-record total of 241 kilograms, while Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan, the defending Olympic champion in the category, won the bronze with a total of 235.
Charron attempted a final clean and jerk of 132 kilograms, the highest weight she had ever attempted but was unable to complete it.
Canada entered the day with 19 medals — six gold, four silver and nine bronze.
Winnipeg’s Skylar Park also added to Canada’s medal haul in Paris on Thursday with a bronze medal in taekwondo.
The 25-year-old defeated Lebanon’s Laetitia Aoun 2-0 in the women’s 57-kilogram division.
Earlier in the day, the outlook seemed less promising for Park, who lost her quarterfinal 2-0 to South Korea’s Kim Yujin.
Park needed Kim to advance to the final to enter the repechage, and Kim delivered by defeating top-seeded Luo Zongshi of China.
She then defeated Turkey’s Hatice Kubra Ilgan 2-0 in the repechage to advance.
The victory followed a motivational pep talk from her coach and father, Jae Park.
“Just that he was proud of me. And I think before the match, he said, `win as a team, lose as a team’. So that’s what we’re doing moving forward,” she said.
The country is guaranteed to add to its medal total on Friday when Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson play for gold in women’s beach volleyball.
The Toronto duo scored a clutch 14-21, 22-20, 15-12 semifinal victory over Switzerland’s Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner at Eiffel Tower Stadium on Thursday.
After dropping the opener, the Canadians saved a match ball in the second set before forcing a decider on extra points. They sealed the win on their second match point when Switzerland sent the ball long.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson will play the winner of the late semifinal between Australia and top-ranked Brazil on Friday.
After dropping the opener, the Canadians saved a match ball in the second set before forcing a decider on extra points.
Earlier, Canada qualified for both the men’s and women’s 4×100-metre relay finals.
The men’s team of Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse ran a time of 38.39 seconds to finish third in Heat 2 on Thursday at Stade de France.
After failing to qualify for the men’s 200-metre final, De Grasse had revealed Wednesday night he was battling a hamstring injury he re-aggravated a few days ago. He had also failed to advance to the 100-metre final on Sunday, his first time missing an Olympic final.
Canada took bronze in the men’s relay at the Rio Games in 2016 and silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The women’s quarter of Sade McCreath, Jacqueline Madogo, Marie-Eloise Leclair and Audrey Leduc ran a national record of 42.50 seconds to finish fourth in Heat 2 and grab one of two non-automatic qualifier spots.
Also advancing to a final in her sport was Sarah Mitton in women’s shot put, with a top throw of 19.77 metres on her first attempt.
The nearest throw to Mitton’s was 19.25 by New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche. The qualifying standard was 19.15 or to be among the 12 top performers for Friday’s final.
The 28-year-old from Brooklyn, N.S., earned silver at the 2023 world championships and won the world indoor title in March. Mitton has a personal and season best of 20.68 metres from May.
“It’s going to be a dog fight,” she said.
“It’s going to take 20 metres to earn any medal. I don’t know how much over 20 that’s going to be, but I know that I’m confident and can do that. There’s also quite a few other girls out there who can do the same, so it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a battle.”
Mitton looks to become the first Canadian woman to earn an Olympic medal in shot put.
Sprint canoeists Sophia Jensen and Katie Vincent advanced to the semifinals in the women’s single 200 metres. The two Canadians finished first in their respective heats Thursday morning.
The 22-year-old Jensen, from Chelsea, Que., clocked in at 46.80 seconds, followed by Spain’s Antia Jacome with 47.35. Vincent came in at 47.22, with Spain’s Maria Corbera just behind at 47.74.
“I was super nervous. I felt like I was going to throw up everywhere, but as soon as the gun went I was like, ‘I could do this,’ and then it all came together,” said Jensen.
“It means a lot. I’ve had a lot of people tell me I can’t do this, it feels good to shove it in their face a little bit.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024.
