Canada Wins First Gold Medal in 2016 Summer Olympics
Posted on Friday, August 12, 2016, 10:05 AM, by Monica Dufour, under
Canada News
Today is a day of celebration. Canada won its first gold medal yesterday. Penny Oleksiak, 16, won her medal in the women’s 100-metre freestyle in
Rio de Janeiro. She won with a time of 52:70.
But that wasn't her only accomplishment. This gold medal is the fourth medal she's won this Olympics, which is the most by a Canadian at a single
Summer Games.
She won silver for the women’s 100-metre butterfly, and bronze for the women’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay and the 4x200-metre relay.
Oleksiak is also the first Canadian swimmer to win gold since Mark Tewskbury in 1992.
Her debut is one of the most successful in the history of the Games. To give you a frame of reference, when Michael Phelps was 15, he was only able to finish in fifth-place with his best effort.
Katerine Savard, 23, of Montreal is in awe of the 16-year old.
“She is big and strong and mentally strong,” Savard said to the
National Post. “She has everything going for her. When I was 16, I wasn’t muscular. She is more advanced for her age.”
Photo courtesy of Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images.