Sanford takes home bronze in Olympic men’s 63.5-kilogram boxing

With the Paris Games in the books, the countdown is on to the next Olympics in Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.

The Winter Games are set for February 2026 and the Canadian curling qualification playdowns – for mixed doubles, at least – will kick off in just a few months.

Olympic representation is one of many intriguing storylines as the Roaring Game returns. Here’s a look at some other hot talking points as the 2024-25 season begins.

MIXED PLAYDOWNS

After missing the podium in mixed doubles at the 2022 Beijing Games, Curling Canada tweaked the timing of its Olympic qualification event and adjusted a key rule for this quadrennial.

Instead of finalizing Canadian representatives a few weeks before the Games, the Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials will be held over a year out from competition.

The 16-team domestic playdowns will be held Dec. 30-Jan. 4 in Liverpool, N.S.

For the first time, Canadian athletes will be allowed to compete in mixed doubles and four-player team competition should they qualify in both disciplines.

BUSY SCHEDULE

The already compact curling schedule includes some key mixed doubles events that will serve as direct-entry qualifiers for the Trials.

Berths will be on the line at the Oct. 31-Nov. 3 competition in Abbotsford, B.C., the Nov. 21-24 event in Guelph, Ont., and the Dec. 5-8 competition in Banff/Canmore, Alta.

Several berths in the four-player Canadian Curling Trials – set for Nov. 22-30, 2025 in Halifax – will be determined by the end of the campaign.

HARRIS CASE

It remains unclear when Team Kerri Einarson lead Briane Harris might return to competitive curling.

She was provisionally suspended last February. Harris tested positive for trace amounts of the banned anabolic agent Ligandrol, her lawyer said.

The case is before the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport but no other details – including a date for a potential hearing – have been released.

Team alternate Krysten Karwacki will fill in for Harris at the Saville Shootout in Edmonton this weekend.

GRAND SLAMS

The showcase event on the Grand Slam of Curling calendar – a series now owned by The Curling Group – remains without a confirmed date and venue.

The Princess Auto Players’ Championship is traditionally held in Toronto in mid-April.

Sportsnet, which sold the circuit last spring, will continue to serve as event broadcaster. The Slam season kicks off Oct. 1 with the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown.

COACH BOTTCHER

A top free agent should he one day return to the four-player game, Brendan Bottcher is focusing on mixed doubles and coaching this season.

He was let go by his teammates last April and replaced at skip by Brad Jacobs. Bottcher will partner with Rachel Homan this season and also coach her four-player team.

Coach Don Bartlett guided Team Rachel Homan to a stunning 67-7 record and seven championships in 2023-24.

CC IN FOR JJ

Team Jennifer Jones – now known as Team Chelsea Carey – has a new leader with Carey taking over at skip for the curling legend, who closed out her four-player career last April.

Carey will anchor a squad that’s ranked fifth in the world. Jones plans to continue playing mixed doubles with her husband Brent Laing.

HEADING WEST

Calgary’s WinSport Event Centre had sellout crowds at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last winter.

Organizers are hoping the turnout will be just as strong for the Sept. 25-29 PointsBet Invitational.

The Season of Champions opener was plagued by attendance woes last season in Oakville, Ont.

WORLD RANKINGS

There is plenty of international flavour in the latest world curling rankings.

Italy’s Joel Retornaz is sandwiched by Scotland’s Bruce Mouat (No. 1) and Ross Whyte (No. 3) with fourth-ranked Brad Gushue the lone Canadian entry in a top five that includes Sweden’s Niklas Edin.

Ottawa’s Rachel Homan leads the women’s rankings ahead of Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni, South Korea’s Eun ji Gim, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg and Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey.

SPONSOR SITUATION

The Canadian Curling Trials remains without a title sponsor even though the competition is just over a year away.

Tim Hortons served as title sponsor for five editions of the event. The restaurant chain, which also sponsored the Brier from 2005-23, declined to renew its title sponsorship last year.

Montana’s has since come on board as the title sponsor of the national men’s championship.

YOUNG GUNS

Team Taylor Reese-Hansen and Team Jordon McDonald are two young Canadian rinks to keep an eye on this season.

They’re coming off victories at the U25 NextGen Classic in Edmonton. Both teams received NextGen funding and berths in the upcoming PointsBet Invitational.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.

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PARIS – Canada enjoyed its strongest single day so far at the Paralympics on Wednesday.

There were four podium finishes, with two golds and two silvers on Day 7 to bump Canada’s medal count to 17 and double the gold-medal number to four. Swimmer Nicholas Bennett and shot putter Greg Stewart earned gold, while road cyclist Nathan Clement and swimmer Reid Maxwell each took silver.

Bennett won the 200-metre individual medley two days after claiming gold in the 100 breaststroke. The 20-year-old from Parksville, B.C., is the first Canadian man to win multiple Paralympic gold medals at a single Games since Benoit Huot’s five in Athens in 2004.

“Seven one-hundredths off my world record, it’s successful to say the least,” said Bennett who set a Paralympic record of two minutes 6.05 seconds. “I was certainly a lot more comfortable racing today. I knew there was definitely a chance being so close to my world record.

“Having a sense of serenity definitely calms the emotions.”

Maxwell, meanwhile, became the youngest Canadian swimmer to win a Paralympic medal since Aurelie Rivard’s silver in 2012 when she was 16.

The 17-year-old from St. Albert, Alta., duelled with Alberto Amodeo in the 400-metre freestyle and touched the wall six-tenths of a second back of the Italian.

“It’s all I ever dreamed of just to come here,” Maxwell said. “Being able to medal here is a whole other thing. Honestly, that fight for the last 50m definitely made it worth it.”

Stewart repeated as Paralympic champion in the men’s F46 shot put at Stade de France. The 38-year-old from Kamloops, B.C., had retired after winning gold at the Tokyo Games but made a comeback to compete in Paris.

Now, he is looking ahead to the future.

“I am going to go on to L.A. (the 2028 Games), this one is just halfway,” he said. “I wanted to come back and continue supporting the Paralympic movement, and support athletes any way we can.”

Road cyclist Clement is another medallist who had retired and returned to find glory in Paris.

The 29-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., represented Canada in swimming at the 2016 Paralympics before switching to cycling and winning a silver medal in the men’s T1-2 individual time trial on Thursday. Although Clement retired from swimming in 2018, his competitive drive was reignited two years later.

“It means the world. It’s something I’m still really trying to process right now, to be a Paralympic medallist,” he said. “Along my journey as a stroke survivor at the age of two and a half, my parents were told very early on my chances at a normal life would not be possible.

“Organizations and centres like the B.C. Centre for Ability really gave me at four, five years old, the opportunity to play, have fun. Little did I know I was using my arms, using my legs, but more importantly for my parents, it gave them the hope of possibility.”

Canada will be playing for bronze in mixed pairs BC4 boccia.

The Canadians started the day with a 6-0 quarterfinal win over Ukraine before losing 6-4 against Hong Kong in the semifinals later Wednesday.

Canada will play Thailand in the bronze-medal game on Thursday.

In women’s wheelchair basketball, Canada defeated Germany 71-53 in the quarterfinals.

Kady Dandeneau paced Canada with 33 points, which will play in the semifinals on Friday.

Canada defeated Japan 1-0 in women’s goalball in the fifth-place game. The Canadians fell 5-1 to Israel in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A circuit court judge in Florida has dismissed a lawsuit two women filed against former NFL kicker Brandon McManus and the Jacksonville Jaguars that accused McManus of sexually assaulting them on the team’s overseas flight to London in 2023.

Judge Michael S. Sharrit granted a motion to dismiss and wrote in his order Tuesday that the case does not meet “exceptional” criteria required for the women to have anonymity. The women used pseudonyms “Jane Doe I” and “Jane Doe II” in the lawsuit.

“Fairness requires Plaintiffs be prepared to stand behind their charges publicly in the same way Defendant McManus must openly refute them,” Sharrit wrote.

The women have 10 days to file an amended complaint using their legal names, which their attorney said they would do.

“Most defendants in sexual assault cases file these types of motions thinking that the victims won’t proceed if they have to publicly reveal their names,” attorney Tony Buzbee said in a statement. “We anticipated this ruling. To be clear, these women have no intention of running and hiding and will comply with the court’s order in a timely fashion. We look forward to continuing to pursue this important case.”

McManus’ attorney, Brett Gallaway, called the allegations “baseless.”

“We look forward to him returning to the NFL playing field as soon as possible,” Gallaway said.

The Washington Commanders released McManus days after the lawsuit was filed in May.

The women were working as flight attendants on Jacksonville’s charter flight to London last September and accused McManus of trying to kiss one of them and grinding and rubbing up against both of them while they were trying to work. They are seeking in excess of $1 million in damages.

The suit claimed the trip “quickly turned into a party” as McManus and other players disregarded the flight attendants’ personal space, air travel safety and federal law. The women said McManus passed out $100 bills to encouraged them and other flight attendants to drink and dance inappropriately.

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