Canada won four gold medals at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, its best gold medal haul since 1992 in Barcelona, which the athletes will look to build on in Tokyo.
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Canada made its first-ever appearance in the Olympics in 1900. Since then, the nation has missed only the 1980 edition of the prestigious tournament in Moscow. The nation has won at least one medal in every edition of the Olympics in which it has competed. The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) is the National Olympic Committee for Canada. The nation has hosted the Olympic Games on three occasions. The first was in the case of the 1976 Summer Olympics which witnessed 6,028 participants. The second occasion was the 1988 Winter Olympics that saw 1,423 athletes compete in 46 events. The third instance was the 2010 Winter Olympics, with 2,629 participants from 83 nations battling it out in 86 events. Montreal, Quebec was the host city for the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Calgary, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia were the cities that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Olympics respectively. The nation’s anthem title for the Olympics is O Canada, with the anthem composer in English being Robert Stanley Weir.
Canada enjoyed the most success when it comes to the number of medals won in the 1984 Summer Olympics which were held in Los Angeles. The nation won a total of 44 medals which includes 10 gold medals, 18 silver medals and 16 bronze medals. Canada made a comeback to the Olympics in that edition, having participated in the US-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The nation made a soaring comeback, finishing in sixth place in the number of gold medals won and fourth place in the total medals won. Larry Cain, Sylvie Bernier, Lori Fung, Linda Thom, Alex Baumann, Victor Davis and Anne Ottenbrite were the athletes who won gold medals in an individual capacity. Alwyn Morris and Hugh Fisher helped the nation win the premier medal in the Men’s K-2 1000m event of Canoeing.
Pat Turner, Kevin Neufeld, Mark Evans, Grant Main, Paul Steele, J. Michael Evans, Dean Crawford, Blair Horn, and Brian McMahon combined to win gold in the Men’s Eight with Coxswain category of Rowing. Canada’s success in the 1984 edition assumes even more importance considering the fact that the nation had claimed a total of 11 medals in the 1976 Games in Montreal, with none of them being a gold medal. The European nation won four gold medals at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. This represented their best gold haul since 1992 in Barcelona, where Canada won 7 gold medals. Athletes from the nation will be looking to surpass this tally in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Equestrian show jumper Ian Millar competed at his tenth Summer Olympics in 2012, tying the record for most Olympic games participated in. The record was set by Austrian sailor Hubert Raudaschl between 1964 and 1996. Millar has been named to eleven straight Olympic teams. However, he did not compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics due to the boycott by Canada. The athlete won his first silver in 2008, in the team event. Rowers Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean are the only Canadian athletes to have won three summer Olympic gold medals.
They competed together in the coxless pairs in 1992 and in the double sculls in 1996, to claim gold. The duo were further a part of the women’s eights team that secured gold in 1992. Another rower, Lesley Thompson-Willie, shares the record for most Olympic medals won by a Canadian. Thompson-Willie recorded five medals: one gold, three silver and one bronze. Phil Edwards is the other athlete to have registered the honour, having won five bronze medals between 1928 and 1936 in the 800m, 1500m and 4x400m relay.
Canada has recorded most of its success in the history of the Olympics in Athletics. Canadian athletes have recorded a total of 14 gold medals in the sport, with athlete George Orton winning the nation’s first gold medal in any sport. Orton helped the European nation secure victory in the men’s 2500m steeplechase at the 1900 Games in Paris. Percy Williams claimed gold in the men’s 100m and 200m in 1928 in Amsterdam, securing the sprint double. Duncan McNaughton won gold in the men’s high jump in 1932. However, the nation had to wait for another 60 years to witness another Canadian athlete winning another gold medal in athletics.
Mark McKoy emerged victorious in the 110m hurdles in Barcelona, to bring an end to the barren run. Sprinter Donovan Bailey further claimed gold medals in the men’s 100m and 4x100m relay at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Athletics has resulted in a total of 60 medals in Canada’s tally, with 15 silver medals and 31 bronze medals won barring the 14 gold medals. Swimming represents the second most successful discipline, with swimmers winning a total of 48 medals for the European nation. Those 48 medals include 8 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 25 bronze medals respectively.
