Maggie Mac Neil swam the butterfly portion of the women’s 4×100-metre medley relay on Wednesday and helped Canada to victory for its 23rd medal in the pool at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile.
It was the fifth win of these Games for Mac Neil, who passed fellow swimmer Jessica Deglau (1999) and two others for most gold medals by a Canadian at a single Pan Am Games.
The 23-year-old from London, Ont., has also won gold in women’s 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle along with relays in the 50 free and 100 free.
Table tennis player Lijuan Geng (1995) and gymnast Ernestine Russell-Carter (1959) also won four gold at a single Pan Am Games.
WATCH | Mac Neil puts forth strong butterfly leg in 100m medley relay win:
GOLD MEDAL: Mac Neil sets Canadian Pan Am gold medals record with medley relay victory
12 hours ago
Duration 6:00
Featured VideoCanada captures gold in the women’s 4×100 medley relay at the Pan American Games. Maggie Mac Neil of London, Ont., sets a record for most gold medals by a Canadian at a single Pan Am Games with five.
Mac Neil was also a member of the mixed relay teams that picked up silver and bronze. She and Mary-Sophie Harvey each earned seven medals in Santiago, which is the most by a Canadian woman at a Pan Am Games.
Marianne Limpert and Joanne Malar (1995), Ralph Hutton (1967) and Deglau won six.
In Wednesday’s race, Danielle Hanus and Rachel Nicol put Canada in silver-medal position at the Aquatics Center following the backstroke and breaststroke. Enter Mac Neil, the reigning Olympic champion in the butterfly, with her team trailing the United States by 25-100ths of a second.
One hundred metres later, the Canadians had clocked a time of three minutes 4.94 seconds and led by 54-100ths as Harvey took over in the freestyle. With 50 metres left, Catie DeLoof cut into the deficit and Canada only led by 11-100ths, but Harvey held her off.
Mexico was awarded the bronze medal after a 4:04.73 performance, just 6-100ths ahead of Colombia.
Canadian swimmers amassed 25 medals in total in Santiago with 11 gold, the most at a Pan Ams held outside Canada.
WATCH | Mac Neil, Harvey, Nicol, and Hanus reflect on 100m medley relay win:
Canadian women’s 4x100m medley relay team reflect on victory
8 hours ago
Duration 1:31
Featured VideoCanada’s Maggie Mac Neil, Rachel Nicol, Danielle Hanus and Mary-Sophie Harvey discuss their gold medal performance in the women’s 4×100-metre medley relay final at the Pan American Games.
Mac Neil didn’t taper to peak for the Pan Ams. She raced in a World Cup in Athens, less than a week out from Santiago’s opening ceremonies.
But she started strong on opening night when Mac Neil swam Canada’s third leg of the 4×100 freestyle relay.
The reigning Olympic champion in the women’s 100 butterfly then claimed gold in that distance Sunday in Pan Am Games record time.
Her hopes and expectations met in her signature event, Mac Neil then went to work in individual freestyle races, which are important to her because of relays.
“Once the 100 fly was over, I really wanted that title and that was the only thing I was really thinking going into the meet,” Mac Neil said. “Because it was my first time swimming freestyle internationally, I felt relaxed anyway. I had nothing really to lose.
“It was a lot of racing for me, but it’s always good practice, especially this early on in the season.”
Mac Neil was among the Canadian women who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay as well as a medley bronze in Tokyo two years ago.
She wants to maintain her freestyle strength for the 2024 Summer Games relays.
“I want to be able to step up for them and hopefully we get another medal in Paris,” Mac Neil said.
Her Olympic debut in Tokyo felt sterile and locked down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mac Neil wanted to compete in Santiago as a dress rehearsal for a more hectic environment in Paris.
“The first thing is that it’s a Games environment and we didn’t really get much of that in Tokyo,” she said.
“So just practising kind of the uncontrollables, whether that’s food, a lot of walking, transportation mishaps, it’s all kind of part of the process and getting ready for what’s coming in Paris.”
Pickrem posts Games record
Earlier, Canada’s Sydney Pickrem made it two gold medals and one Pan Am Games record in Chile, cruising to victory in 2:09.04 in the women’s 200 individual medley.
Pickrem, 26, took down the Games record of 2:10.51 by Caitlin Leverenz of the United States from 2015 in Toronto.
GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS: Canada’s Sydney Pickrem claims gold, Mary-Sophie Harvey takes silver at Pan Am Games
13 hours ago
Duration 4:54
Featured VideoCanadians Sydney Pickrem captures gold with a personal best time of 2.09:04, and teammate Mary-Sophie Harvey claims silver in the 200 metre individual medley at the Pan Am Games.
It is also 63-100ths faster than the Halifax native’s winning time in the event at the recent World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Athens. In May, she was also victorious in the 200 IM in 2:08.89 at the London International Meet.
Making her second Pan Am Games appearance, Pickrem also captured gold on Monday in a 1-2 Canadian finish with Kelsey Wog.
The 2019 world bronze medallist, Pickrem boasts a 2:08.61 season best from the Canadian trials in March. It was a national record until 16-year-old Summer McIntosh topped it with a 2:08.08 effort earlier this year at a Pro Swim Series event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Harvey of Trois-Rivieres, Que., finished behind Pickrem on Wednesday for silver in 2:11.92, while Helen Noble (2:14.19) of the United States took bronze.
WATCH | Pan Am Games Wednesday morning highlights from Santiago, Chile:
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games: Day 6 early highlights
15 hours ago
Duration 25:56
Featured VideoWatch some early action highlights from day six of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
For the 24-year-old Harvey, the 200 IM silver represented her third podium finish of these Games. She was part of the winning relay team in the women’s 100 free on Saturday and prevailed the following day in the 200 free.
Harvey reached the medal podium in four of five events in her 2019 Pan Am Games debut in Lima, where she was spiraling into darkness.
Battling an eating disorder, mental health concerns and a lingering shoulder injury, Harvey had just missed making the senior team heading to the world championships and questioned her future in the sport. She was prepared to quit.
“I started to skip meals. I would barely have one meal a day,” Harvey told CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux recently. “I made the Pan Am team. I thought I’d be happy about that but afterwards I still felt empty.”
A month before those Lima Games, Harvey says she attempted suicide. She called her mom and went to the hospital to recover.
“I stayed at her place for a month and then went to Pan Ams,” Harvey said.
In the men’s 200 IM, Finlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., overtook the field and claimed the first gold medal by Canadian men in the pool at these Games.
The 2021 Olympian touched the wall in 1:58.74, 1.15 seconds ahead of Arsenio Bustos of the U.S., while bronze went to Brazil’s Leonardo Coelho (2:00.58). Collyn Gagne of Milton, Ont., was fourth (2:00.79).
WATCH | Knox wins men’s 200m individual medley in 1:58.74:
GOLD MEDAL: Alberta’s Finlay Knox swims to Pan Am 200m individual medley victory
13 hours ago
Duration 4:05
Featured VideoFinlay Knox of Okotoks, Alta., won the Pan Am Games men’s 200-metre individual medley in a time of 1:58.74. Fellow countryman Collyn Gagne of Milton, Ont., finished in fourth place.
Canada wins 4 badminton gold medals
The final day of badminton competition in Santiago saw Canada take home gold in four of the five events.
Catherine Choi of Markham, Ont., and Edmonton’s Josephine Wu got things started on Wednesday with gold in women’s doubles, beating American twins Annie and Kerry Xu 2-1 (21-18, 10-21, 21-17).
The top-seeded Canadian duo reached the final without dropping a game.
WATCH l Choi, Wu win women’s doubles gold:
GOLD MEDAL: Canada defeats United States in badminton doubles, claiming top spot at Pan Am Games
20 hours ago
Duration 2:07
Featured VideoCanada’s Catherine Choi and Josephine Wu defeated the American pair of Annie and Kerry Xu 21-18, 10-21, 21-17 to take badminton doubles gold at the Pan Am Games.
Wu later returned to the court to help Canada win the mixed doubles gold-medal match, teaming up with Ty Lindeman of St. Alberta, Alta., to top Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai of the U.S. 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 21-19).
WATCH l Wu, Lindeman prevail in mixed doubles final:
GOLD MEDAL: Canada captures 4th badminton Pan Am gold with mixed doubles win
11 hours ago
Duration 2:36
Featured VideoCanada’s Ty Lindeman and Josephine Wu defeat Jennie Gai and Vinson Chiu of the United States 17-21, 21-17, 21-19 in the badminton mixed doubles gold medal match at the Pan An American Games. Wu collected her second gold after her victory with Catherine Choi in women’s doubles to start the day and the Canadian team would rack up four gold medals and add a bronze by the end of the session.
Canada also topped the men’s doubles podium.
Adam Dong of Burlington, Ont., and Nyl Yakura of Pickering, Ont., captured gold by beating Brazil’s Fabrício Farias and Davi Silva 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 21-18).
WATCH l Yakura, Dong edge Brazil for gold in men’s doubles:
GOLD MEDAL: Canada defeats Brazil claiming both gold medals in women’s and men’s doubles badminton
19 hours ago
Duration 2:13
Featured VideoCanada’s Nyl Yakura and Xingyu Dong take gold for the red and white after defeating Brazil’s Davi Carvalho and Fabricio Rocha 19-21, 21-15, 21-18 in doubles badminton.
No. 1 seed Brian Yang won gold in men’s singles with a sweep of Kevin Cordón of Guatemala, who is part of the independent athletes team.
The 21-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., was perfect throughout the tournament, winning eight straight games after receiving a bye into the second round — upgrading his silver medal from the 2019 edition.
Top Canadian player Michelle Li, a four-time Pan Am games gold medallist, was forced to miss these Games due to an injury.
Canada leads the all-time Pan Am Games medal table in badminton with 60, including 25 gold.
WATCH l Yang tops men’s badminton podium:
GOLD MEDAL: Yang captures more badminton gold for Canada at Pan Am Games
15 hours ago
Duration 1:37
Featured VideoRichmond Hill’s Brian Yang claimed Pan Am Games badminton singles gold Wednesday, defeating Independent Athletes Team member Kevin Cordon in straight sets 21-18, 21-6.
In track cycling, the Canadian quartet of Devaney Collier, Fiona Majendie, Kiara Lylyk and Ruby West won gold in women’s team pursuit with a victory over Mexico’s Lizbeth Salazar, María Gaxiola, Victoria Velasco and Yareli Acevedo in Wednesday’s final.
The Canadians clocked a time of 4:23.000 at the Velodromo Parque Penalolen.
“We used a young alternate who shows a lot of promise today and we managed to get it done with a really fast time, too,” said Canada coach Phil Abbott of Lylyk, who was a late substitute after Ngaire Barraclough withdrew due to illness.
WATCH | Day 6 late highlights:
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games: Day 6 late highlights
6 hours ago
Duration 26:03
Featured VideoWatch some of the best performances of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen‘s celebrity status.
A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway’s Carlsen a household name.
Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity.
Only legends like Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player. Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation’s greatest ever.
But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport.
“I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don’t necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.”
Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says.
Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November’s World Chess Championship tournament between China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won’t be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023.
Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website.
Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it. “That will come later, maybe with advertisements or deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.
While Take Take Take offers a different prospect with its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded market with Chess.com, which has more than 100 million users, YouTube, Twitch, and the website of FIDE the International Chess Federation. World Chess was worth around $54 million when it got listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The accessibility of chess engines that can beat any human means cheating has never been easier. However, they can still be used to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would be impossible against human opponents.
“I think the games today are of higher quality because preparation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping us play. It is reshaping the way we evaluate the games,” especially for the new generation of players, says Carlsen.
At the same time, he admits that two decades after becoming a grand master, his mind doesn’t quite compute at the tornado speed it once did. “Most people have less energy when they get older. The brain gets slower. I have already felt that for a few years. The younger players’ processing power is just faster.”
Even so, he intends to be the world’s best for many years to come.
“My mind is a bit slower, and I maybe don’t have as much energy. But chess is about the coming together of energy, computing power and experience. I am still closer to my peak than decline,” he said.
Chess has been cresting a popularity wave begun by Carlsen himself.
He became the world’s top-ranked player in 2011. In 2013, he won the first of his five World Championships. In 2014, he achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882, and he has remained the undisputed world number one for the last 13 years.
Off the table, chess influencers, like the world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are using social media to bring the game to a wider audience. The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ unlikely cerebral sex appeal when it became one of the streamer’s biggest hits in 2020.
And in 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American grand master, who admitted to using technology to cheat in online games in the past, created a rare edge in the usually sedate world of chess. There is no evidence Niemann ever cheated in live games but the feud between the pair propelled the game even further into public consciousness.
Whether chess can continue to grow without the full professional participation of its biggest celebrity remains to be seen.
Canadian pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps along with ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier headline a strong field at Skate Canada International. The Canadians say they’re excited to perform in front of a home crowd as the world’s best figure skaters arrive in Halifax. (Oct. 24, 2024)
INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) — Nico Echavarria shot a 6-under 64 on Friday — matching his 64 on Thursday — to lead by two shots over Taylor Moore and Justin Thomas after the second round of the Zozo Championship in Japan.
Thomas shot 64 and Moore carded 67 with three others just three shots off the lead including Seamus Power, who had the day’s low round of 62 at the Narashino Country Club.
Thomas has twice won the PGA Championship but is winless in two years on the PGA Tour.
Eric Cole (67) and C.T. Pan (66) were also three behind heading to Saturday.
Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian at 5-under and tied for 16th.
Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., is two shots back of Taylor and tied for 31st.
“I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” said Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas. His lone PGA win was last year in Puerto Rico.
He had a two-round total of 12-under 128.
“I’ve had it after 54, but never after 36, so it’s good to be in this position. There’s got to be some pressure,” he added. “Hopefully a good round tomorrow can keep me in the lead or around the lead. And how I said yesterday — the goal is to be close with nine holes to go.”
Rickie Fowler, a crowd favorite in Japan because of his connections to the country, shot 64 to go with an opening 68 and was four shots back going into the weekend. Max Greyserman was also four behind after a 68.
“It would be amazing to win here,” said Fowler, whose mother has Japanese roots. “Came close a few years ago.”
Fowler tied for second in 2022
Fowler described his roots as “pretty far removed for Japan, but I’m sure I have relatives here, but I don’t know anyone. Japanese culture’s always been a fairly big part of life growing up. I always love being over here.”
Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama shot his second 71 and was 14 shots off the lead.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 67 and pulled within eight shot of the lead, and Xander Schauffele — British Open and PGA winner this season — shot 65 and was 10 behind after a 73 on Thursday.
“I feel like I’ve got a good game plan out here,” Morikawa said, another player with Japanese connections. “I just have to execute shots a little better.”
“I am the defending champ, but that doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to play better just because I won here,” he added. “It’s a brand new week, it’s a year later. I feel like my golf game is still in a good spot. I just haven’t executed my shots. When that doesn’t happen it makes golf a little tougher.”
Schauffele turned 31 on Friday and said he was serenaded before his opening tee shot. He also has ties to Japan. His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in the Tokyo area.
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