Society

A fan’s guide to Thursday at the Games

Pistorius, Bolt and women soccer, of course

(Pavel Kopczynski/Reuters)

Pistorius’s last lap:

Oscar Pistorius and his prosthetic legs were making headlines worldwide months before the Olympics. And the South African has continued to keep fans and journalists in awe.

After a strong 400-m opening heat, Pistorius qualified for the semi-finals, though he did not make it past that. Still, it was more than enough to impress 400-m gold medallist Kirani James of Grenada, who asked him to swap name tags.

Pistorius will be back on the track on Thursday for what could be one final lap. He’ll be competing in the 4 x 400-m relay with his fellow South Africans — and they could make it to the finals, on Friday.

Approximate time to watch: Men’s 4 x 400-m relay: Sportsnet 6:30a.m. Eastern/3:30a.m. Pacific

Bolt at his best:

Usain Bolt may owe his fame to his 100-m dashes, but his favorite race is actually the 200-m. That’s what he trained his whole life for, and only shortly before Beijing 2008, did he start to take the 100-m race seriously.

The world’s fastest man won gold in the 200-m four years ago, smashing the world record with a time of 19.19 seconds. His only competition this time around? Yohan Blake, Bolt’s training partner and 100-m silver medallist.

Approximate time to watch: Men’s 200-m finals: CTV 3:50p.m. Eastern/12:50p.m. Pacific

Canada’s soccer women play for bronze:

Berate the ref. all you want, the fact remains that Canada now has to fight for bronze. That’ll happen tomorrow. Tune in to see more of the fabulous Christine Sinclair — and, hopefully, a medal win.

Approximate time to watch: Women’s soccer bronze-medal match: CTV 8a.m. Eastern/5a.m. Pacific

The Women’s World Cup rematch:

It was just over a year ago that Japan and the USA squared off in the Women’s World Cup final. Twice the Americans took the lead, and twice the Japanese came back to level the score. The shootout ended with a historic win for Japan. Tomorrow is the USA’s chance for payback.

Approximate time to watch: Women’s soccer final: TSN 2:45p.m. Eastern/11:45a.m. Pacific

Clinging to the mat:

After winning silver in Athens and bronze in Beijing, Tonya Verbeek is back again and fighting for what could be her first gold medal. Last year, she narrowly lost in the world championship final to Japanese superstar Saori Yoshida. This could be the last chance for this 31-year-old veteran wrestler to win it all.

Approximate time to watch: Women’s 55kg freestyle wrestling: Sportsnet 8a.m. Eastern/5a.m. Pacific

Wednesday recap:

More medals for van Kayak: Adam van Koeverden started out the 1000-m singles kayak finals in typical fashion: dominating. After building a moderate lead through the first 500-m, the only question left was whether he had enough juice to hold on. He was still leading after the 3/4 mark, but couldn’t keep ahead of his friend Eirik Veras Larsen of Norway as they approached the finish line. Still, a fourth medal in three Olympic Games will put him among Canada’s all-time greats.

Oldershaw makes family history: Mark Oldershaw knows all about the Olympics. He comes from a long canoeing dinasty: his grandfather competed in the Summer Games, as did his father (and coach). The one thing that the Oldershaw family was missing was an Olympic medal — until now, that is. Sixty-four years after his grandfather first dipped his paddle into Olympic water, Mark Oldershaw stepped off his win canoe with a bronze.

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