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Women are dominating Team Canada's medal count at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Women are dominating Team Canada's medal count at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Image / Ian MacNicol / Contributor / Getty Image Sport / Getty Images

We are only five days into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and so far, Canada has won nine medals and all by women.

Here's a breakdown of every medal win so far by Team Canada.

Penny Oleksiak makes Canadian Olympic history!

The 21-year-old Toronto swimmer grabbed a bronze medal in the women’s 200-metre freestyle. The medal marks her second of the 2020 Games, and her sixth-ever at the Olympics, making her the most decorated Canadian summer Olympian ever.

When including the Winter Olympics, Oleksiak’s medal ties her with Clara Hughes and Cindy Klassen for the all-time Canadian record.

More wins for the swim team! 

Along with the bronze medal, Penny Oleksiak also won silver in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay alongside her swimming team which includes Margaret Mac Neil, Taylor Ruck, Kayla Sanchez and Rebecca Smith. It was the country’s first podium finish, but far from the last. 

“I knew I wasn’t going to touch third,” Oleksiak said. “When I make a decision in a race, I have to execute it. I wanted a silver medal for these girls, and wouldn’t accept anything else.”

 

Margaret Mac Neil's win is a major highlight! 

While it was the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team who picked up the first medal for Team Canada, it was Ontario's Margaret Mac Neil who won Canada’s first gold in the Tokyo Olympics Monday, after finishing first in the women’s 100m butterfly.

In one of the biggest highlights so far, the 21-year-old, who needs glasses but wasn’t wearing contact lenses or prescription goggles, took a moment to squint at the scoreboard before realizing she had won.

Maude Charron wins gold in weightlifting!

Speaking of gold medals, Rimouski's very own Maude Charron struck gold in women's 64-kilogram weightlifting.

The 28-year-old lifted her hands in triumph after climbing the podium and wiping the tears from her face as the Canadian anthem played.

"Actually, I don't remember," Charron said with a laugh when asked about the anthem. "I was just crying, and I didn't realize what happened. I thought about my grandmother because once she told me she'd like me to sing the Canadian anthem, so I sang it - but on the podium at the Olympics."

More wins for Team Canada!

Everywhere you turn at the Tokyo Olympics, there are Canadian women carving a new path for women in sport in their country. Jennifer Abel and Melissa Citrini Beaulieu (both from Quebec) won silver in the women's synchronized 3-metre springboard; Ontario's Kylie Masse won silver in the women's 100-metre backstroke, and Canada’s softball team defeated Mexico to win the country's first medal in the sport.

Meanwhile, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard delivered a historic performance Tuesday inside Tokyo's Budokan arena, the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts.

A Montreal native, she defeated Venezuela's Anriquelis Barrios to capture a bronze medal in the women's -under-63 kg judo category.

The 27-year old burst into tears moments after she realized she'd won. She is the first Canadian woman to ever win a medal for judo.

Currently, all nine of Canada's medals at the Tokyo Olympics have been won by women. Women athletes also led Canada's medal charge four years ago in Rio de Janeiro, accounting for 16 of Canada's 22 medals.

With two gold, three silver and four bronze, Canada has moved up to eighth in the medal standings, behind Australia and ahead of France.

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