Canada’s Simu Liu Leading the Hollywood Team

Canadian actor Simu Liu is enjoying a major acting breakthrough in the lead role, among an all-star cast, of blockbuster film Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In its first 25 days, the film made $175 million USD worldwide with no signs of puttering out. The movie alone is helping alleviate the blow the film industry took due to COVID-19. Liu was born in the northern Chinese city of Harbin (the hometown of pop star Wanting) and grew up in Mississauga from the age of five. He studied business and held an accounting position before switching to acting. Simu’s first big break was securing a part in the movie Pacific Rim after which he became busy as a television actor. Shang Chi has him return to the big screen as a superhero.

Recent movies starring Canadians have also succeeded in spades: Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy and The Rock in Jungle Cruise. The buzz is out for upcoming The Matrix Resurrections which will see Canadian actors Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss put on more cinematic magic. That one is scheduled for release just before Christmas.

The Canadian Invasion … in Women’s Tennis

Emma Raducanu has become only the second Canadian to win the US Open Women’s Tennis Singles. And she won it by defeating fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4 and 6-3. In 2019, Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian to do the honours, defeating Serena Williams of the United States. Interestingly, both Emma and Bianca have Romanian ancestry. Another big name in tennis in the past several years is of course Eugenie Bouchard who was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2014, the first Canadian to reach the final of a Grand Slam tournament in singles. We send out our congratulations to Emma and Leylah.

The 2021 US Open Final Match was played in New York City on the 20th anniversary to the day of the terrorist attacks on the metropolis’ twin towers, an incident that, two decades later, leaves many unanswered questions. It is perhaps fitting that two Canadians took the spotlight there today. On September 11, 2001, after two airplanes deliberately crashed into the Word Trade Centre, US airspace shut down for safety measures, and passenger jets in the region had nowhere to land. The magnanimous folks in Gander, Newfoundland welcomed the planes and provided good Canadian hospitality to the shaken passengers, some 7,000 of them from 38 planes. It is a story that has been made into a Broadway musical.

Canada Leaves Tokyo with an 11th Place Finish

Kelsey Mitchell cycled her way to Canada’s final medal in Tokyo, and a gold one, on the track. Winning seven gold medals is our best showing since Barcelona in 1992 where we also won seven. Like Barcelona, we finished Tokyo in 11th place. Our medal haul of 24 is the finest achievement since Los Angeles in 1984, a boycotted Games, where we reeled in 44. Damian Warner, having been crowned “world’s greatest athlete” for winning the decathlon, was chosen as the flag-bearer for the scaled-down Closing Ceremony. Maggie Mac Neil was our top athlete in Tokyo, winning three medals, one of each colour. Penny Oleksiak became the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all time with seven total. Find highlights, tables, statistics, and a list of all our Tokyo medal winners below.

TOKYO HIGHLIGHTS

• Canada won the most medals ever in a non-boycotted Summer Olympics (24)
• Swimmer Penny Oleksiak became the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all-time (7)
• Swimmer Maggie Mac Neil was the top Canadian performer in Tokyo (3 – one of each colour)
• Damian Warner set World and Olympic Decathlon bests for 3 of its component sports
• 75% of the medals were won by women (18/24)
• Swimmer Kylie Masse set an Olympic record in the 100m backstroke during the heats (58.17s)

SUMMER OLYMPICS HIGHLIGHTS

• Canada made its first Olympic appearance in 1900 (Paris)
• Canada hosted the 1976 Games in Montreal, winning 11 medals, none gold
• At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Canada claimed 44 medals (10 gold), its best performance
• George Orton won Canada’s first gold medal (Men’s 2500m steeplechase, Paris 1900)
• Canada has performed best in Athletics with 60 medals (14 gold)
• Rowers Kathleen Heddle and Marnie McBean have won three summer Olympic gold medals
• Equestrian Ian Millar competed at 10 Olympics in 1972–2012 winning a silver in Beijing 2008
• Clara Hughes has won medals at both the Summer and Winter Games (cycling and speed skating)

TOKYO MEDAL COUNT

The United States won the Tokyo Olympics overtaking China in the final day of action. The USA won 113 medals including 39 gold. China capped off the games with a lucky 88 total, 38 of which were gold. Host nation Japan triumphed at a respectable 3rd spot. Canada finished 11th.

TOKYO TOP ATHLETES

The top athlete at the Tokyo Games was US swimmer Caeleb Dressel who took home five gold medals. The top Canadian athlete was Margaret “Maggie” Mac Neil who won one medal of each colour putting her in 39th overall.

TOKYO CANADIAN MEDALS

Andre De Grasse, Athletics – Men’s 200m GOLD
Damian Warner, Athletics – Men’s Decathlon GOLD
Kelsey Mitchell, Track Cycling – Women’s Sprint GOLD
Team Canada, Football – Women GOLD
Team Canada, Rowing – Women’s Eight GOLD
Margaret MacNeil, Swimming – Women’s 100m Butterfly GOLD
Maude Charron, Weightlifting – Women’s 64kg GOLD

Mohammed Ahmed, Athletics – Men’s 5000m SILVER
Laurence Vincent-Lapointe, Canoe Sprint – Women’s Canoe Single 200m SILVER
Team Canada, Diving – Synchronised 3m Springboard SILVER
Kylie Masse, Swimming – Women’s 100m Backstroke SILVER
Kylie Masse, Swimming – Women’s 200m Backstroke SILVER
Team Canada, Swimming – Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay SILVER

Andre De Grasse, Athletics – Men’s 100m BRONZE
Team Canada, Athletics – Men’s 4 x 100m Relay BRONZE
Evan Dunfee, Athletics – Men’s 50km Race Walk BRONZE
Team Canada, Baseball – Softball BRONZE
Team Canada, Canoe Sprint – Women’s Canoe Double 500m BRONZE
Lauriane Genest, Track Cycling Women’s Keirin BRONZE
Jessica Klimkait, Judo – Women-57 kg BRONZE
Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Judo – Women-63 kg BRONZE
Team Canada, Rowing – Women’s Pair BRONZE
Penny Oleksiak, Swimming – Women’s 200m Freestyle BRONZE
Team Canada, Swimming – Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay BRONZE

SUMMER OLYMPICS CANADIAN MEDALS

Relative to participating nations, Canada performed best at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, finishing in 4th place. Canada chose not to participate in the 1980 Games amidst Cold War boycotts which also limited the number of countries participating in the 1984 Games where Canada had its greatest medal haul of 44 (10 gold). Of the non-boycotted Summer Olympics, Canada’s greatest success was in Tokyo 2020 with 24 medals (7 gold). Canada also claimed seven gold medals in Barcelona 1992. Our poorest showing was at the Rome Games in 1960 winning only one medal (silver) which put is in 32nd place. That medal was won by Team Canada in Rowing, Men’s Eight with Coxswain.

That’s a wrap. We look forward to cheering on Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing scheduled for February 4-20.

Canada Wins Most Summer Olympic Medals Since 1984

Laurence Vincent Lapointe and Katie Vincent paddled their canoe to bronze in the C-2 500 m event to snatch Canada’s 23rd medal of the Tokyo Games. It is the highest medal tally for the country since winning 44 in the Los Angeles Games of 1984. Those Olympics, like the Moscow Games in 1980, were boycotted by many countries in Cold War silliness. We can therefore say that Canada in Tokyo has set a Summer Games medal record for a non-boycotted Olympics. We will offer a recap with tables and stats at the end of the Tokyo run.

Currently, China leads with 38 gold medals, and the United States has the biggest medal tally at 108 (in 2nd place overall). The host nation (Japan) sits in respectable 3rd. The big battle has been for 4th spot. Currently it is Russia. Though banned from these Olympics, the country has been able to compete with the words “Olympic Committee” tacked onto its name.

A Shootout and Team Canada Takes Home Football Gold

The dream machine conjured up exhilarating and accurate images for the Canadian women’s soccer club. The team advanced to the gold medal game against Sweden thanks to a brilliant penalty kick by Jessie Fleming to seal a 1-0 victory over the US.

Sweden scored and outplayed Canada during the first half of the gold medal game. Canada created more chances in the second. A penalty kick was awarded to the team bearing the maple leaf, and London’s Jessie Fleming delivered once again. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

There was no scoring in extra time, and a five-round shootout was in order.

When the smoke had cleared, the shootout ended with a 2-2 tie, and it moved on to sudden death.

Edmonton goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé denied the attempt made by Sweden’s Jonna Andersson.

Vancouver’s Julia Grosso was up. She gave it all she had. The Swedish goalkeeper stretched out her hands and, as they’d say in hockey, she got a piece of it. The ball bounced upwards and hit the top of the net … from the inside.

Gold for Canada.

Canada also won three more medals over the past day. Mohammed Ahmed snatched our first medal ever in the Men’s 5 km event with a silver. Evan Dunfee took bronze in the 50 km race walk. And another bronze was scored in the 4×100 Men’s Relay. The medal count is up to 6 gold, 6 silver, and 10 bronze.

Watch the nail-biting shootout to cap off the Women’s gold medal soccer game below.

A Golden Finish: Damian Warner Becomes World’s Greatest Athlete

After the decathlon’s final element, a gruelling 1.5 km race, Canada’s Damian Warner is the last man standing, cracks the formidable 9,000-points barrier, breaks the Olympic record, and wins the country’s fifth gold medal, its most in a Summer Olympics since Barcelona in 1992. The decathlon unofficially crowns the world’s greatest athlete, and at 31 years of age, the oldest of the 21-man field, the native of London, Ontario mounts the throne with 9,018 points. He accomplished it in ten events over two days in muggy 40-degree heat.

The first-day decathlon events were 100-metre dash, running long (broad) jump, shot put, high jump, and 400-metre run.

The second-day events were 110-metre hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1,500-metre run.

Warner’s teammate Pierce LePage finished fifth in his Olympic debut.

More hardware has been claimed over the past day. Laurence Vincent Lapointe took silver in the exciting 200-metre C-1 race under the canoe/kayak – sprint category.

And Lauriane Genest took bronze in the track cycling keirin race.

Canada’s medal count is up to 5 gold, 5 silver, and 8 bronze.

Andre De Grasse Becomes Olympic Champion in 19.62 Seconds

In the wee hours of the morning Pacific Time, Donovan Bailey sent out a tweet to Andre De Grasse, “Welcome to the club”. What happened? In four letters: G-O-L-D. That’s right! Andre smoked past the entire competition to bag the gold medal in the 200-metre dash. Fellow Canadian Aaron Brown finished in the enviable position of sixth. It was the first time in 93 years that two Canadians ran in the final. To claim the gold medal, Canada’s fourth of the Tokyo Games, De Grasse clocked in a personal best time of 19.62 seconds. At the last Olympics in Rio, Usain Bolt hinted that Andre De Grasse was his heir apparent. Very good insight from Usain. This is Andre’s fifth Olympic medal and his first gold. Watch the race below.

Canadian Men Claim Their First Tokyo Olympics Medal

It was a bizarre succession of incidents that led to Canadian men claiming their first Tokyo Olympics medal. The event was the 100 m dash. World champion Christian Coleman (USA) was banned from participating because he went AWOL when up for drug testing. Trayvon Bromell (USA), the world’s fastest in 2021, was eliminated in the semi-finals.

A new name on the scene, Lamont Marcell Jacobs was born in the States to an American father, but wound up being raised in the homeland of his mother – Italy. His sport of choice was the long jump. And after who knows how many hours he logged in training for that, he decided, in 2018 to switch to sprinting. Tokyo was a long shot however. He was only able to break the 10-second barrier in May.

The race track was set up. The finalists took their marks. It was a race, after unimaginable training and preparation by the athletes, that would all be over in under 10 seconds. The eliminated Bromell sat on the sidelines with long-retired defending champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica and watched as Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start.

Thirty metres into the run, Canada’s Andre de Grasse was in last place, and things did not look promising. But he then pressed the turbo button and began making up lost ground at lightning speed.

Italy’s Jacobs flamed through the 100 metres in 9.80 seconds to claim the gold medal. American Fred Kerley, centimetres behind, took silver with a time of 9.84 seconds.

Andre de Grasse won his second successive Olympic bronze at 9.89 seconds – a personal best. It is the first medal for Canadian men at the Tokyo Games. All 13 previous medals won have been by women. This is Andre’s fourth Olympic medal in total.

Watch the race below.

“Spicy P” Just Became the Olympic Céline Dion

Watching those Olympic athletes run the track in 40-degree Tokyo heat was moving. Whether they were able to qualify for subsequent rounds or not, what incredible fortitude demonstrated by these heroes. Bravo to Olympic athletes!

A couple more medals by Team Canada. Kylie Masse snagged her second silver, this time for the 200 m backstroke. (She previously won silver in the 100 m).

The big news is that Penny Oleksiak is no longer simply the most decorated Canadian summer Olympian. She was part of the women’s 4×100 medley relay, along with Kylie Masse, Sydney Pickrem, and Margaret Mac Neil, who swam their way to bronze. This means that “Spicy P” ups her Olympic medal tally to seven and is now the most decorated Canadian Olympic athlete in all history.

Canada now has 3 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze medals for a total of 13. All medals won are from women. This latter fact is beginning to make news internationally. USA Today published a recent article entitled, “Every single medal Team Canada won in the Tokyo Olympics so far belongs to a woman”. It begins, “Who runs the world? Girls, specifically female athletes from Canada who have been dominating the Tokyo Olympics.” You can check out the article here.

Canada Captures Its Third Gold Medal

The Canadian men have yet to win a medal. The women have scored two more, both in rowing. Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens of British Columbia won bronze in the pairs. And Canada scored its third gold medal of these games, in the eight crew. The slayers names are Lisa Roman, Kasia Gruchalla-Wesierski, Christine Roper, Andrea Proske, Susanne Grainger, Madison Mailey, Sydney Payne, Avalon Wasteneys and Kristen Kit. Canada also won gold in this event back in 1992.

The current medal count is 3 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze. Canada has been ranking from 10th to 12th over the past few days.

At the Rio Olympics, Canada won 15 bronze, 3 silver, and 4 gold for a total of 22 medals and finished in 20th place. Seven countries with lower populations finished ahead, namely New Zealand, Cuba, Croatia, Jamaica, Hungary, The Netherlands, and Australia.

Penny Oleksiak: Most Decorated Canadian Summer Olympian

Canada has won its second gold medal! This is for women’s 64 kg weightlifting and our champion’s name is Maude Charron. Big congrats to her.

We have also won our second bronze medal in judo thanks to Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard in the 63 kg event.

And another piece of big news is that superstar athlete Penny Oleksiak has won her 6th Olympic medal meaning that she is the most decorated Canadian Summer Olympian in history. Today, she won bronze in the 200m freestyle swim. Speedskater Cindy Klassen is the most decorated winter Olympian, also winning six. Clara Hughes has won six medals, but she is what is known as a dual Olympian, winning two medals in the summer games and four in winter, something pretty incredible.

All medals thus far won (nine) are by women. Let’s face it, Canadian men are all a bunch of slackers.

3 More Medals Light the Prism

A steady stream of medals is being won by Team Canada at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Jessica Klimkait takes home bronze in judo 57 kg. She is the first Canadian woman to ever win an Olympic medal in judo.

And how about that Kylie Masse! She came through in women’s 100m backstroke edged out of gold by the world record holder. Kylie won bronze in Brazil and now a silver in Japan.

Finally, Team Canada has its first Olympic medal in softball! We defeated Mexico 3-2 for the bronze.

In music news, the 2021 winner of the annual Prism Prize was announced. The award recognizes artistry in Canadian music videos. A jury of 130+ media professionals chose the animated “Thirteen” from rapper Haviah Mighty, directed by Theo Kapodistrias, as the Grand Prize winner and recipient of the $20,000 cash prize. The fan-voted Audience Award was won by directors Evan Elliot and Lance Sampson for “Pay it Forward” by Aquakultre. For more info, visit the official website here.

London Swimmer Maggie Mac Neil Nabs Our 1st Gold Medal

London, Ontario’s Margaret Mac Neil, also known as Maggie, who earlier helped the Canadian women’s swim team win silver in the 4×100 freestyle, swam her way to first place in the 100-metre butterfly nailing Canada’s first gold medal of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The superstar athlete clocked in the third fastest time in world history. She’s fast. Just months before the Games began, Maggie had to switch training locations due to COVID restrictions. This is the 21-year-old’s first Olympics.

You can watch the race here.

Canada Begins Tokyo Games with Twin Silvers

Very few new releases deck the halls this week. At the end of the month, we will post a review of all during the second half of July.

At CMB we are happy to cheer on our athletes at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and we hope that our excellence in sport can inspire our music stars to craft gold records.

Team Canada has snatched a pair of silvers thus far.

Our first was in women’s swimming the 4×100-metre freestyle thanks to our awesome athletes Penny Oleksiak, Maggie Mac Neil, Rebecca Smith, and Kayla Sanchez!

Our second was in women’s diving the three-metre synchronized category thanks to the stellar pair of Jennifer Abel and Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu!

For your convenience we have embedded videos below of the final heat of the swim and the collection of dives that led to podium standing.

The Mitchells vs The Machines Features Vancouver Artists. Guess Who?

New hit animated feature film The Mitchells vs The Machines features songs from an international roster of artists: Australia, France, Iceland, Moldova, Japan, the UK, the US, and yes, Canada. But the Canadians included might surprise you. There are two artists, and they are both from Vancouver.

From her critically acclaimed album Art Angels, “California” by Grimes is in the soundtrack.

In 2013-14, a trio scored two Billboard Canada Hot 100 charting singles. Natasha Zimbaro, singer and finalist in the X-Factor; Dizzy Overhill, a rapper; and Mark Luongo, an expert musician mastering several instruments, formed a group called Party Hero, stylized Prty H3ro. Sadly, the group was short lived, as the members veered off to work on different projects. Natasha released a very good country EP in 2017. Prty H3ro’s hit “Life of the Prty” is included in the movie The Mitchells vs The Machines. The song is filled with positive vibes. We embed the lyric video below for a blast from the recent past.