Canada was left off the podium for the first time in nine days at the Tokyo Olympics, but the womensa国际传媒檚 soccer team guaranteed that wonsa国际传媒檛 be the case on Friday.

Jessie Fleming scored on a 74th-minute penalty as the Canadians edged the United States sa国际传媒� their longtime nemesis sa国际传媒�1-0 in a semifinal Monday at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium.

That means the Canadians will win their third straight Olympic medal. And this time, the colour wonsa国际传媒檛 be bronze. Canada finished third both at the 2012 London Games and four years later in Rio de Janeiro, and the team had stated that this time they wanted an upgrade.

sa国际传媒淏ack-to-back bronzes, we were kind of sick of that,sa国际传媒� team captain Christine Sinclair said. sa国际传媒淎nd this team, I mean, wow, what a performance, what a fight. Just so proud of our team, and one more to go.sa国际传媒�

Canada will face Sweden for gold on Friday at Tokyosa国际传媒檚 Olympic Stadium. Sweden advanced with a 1-0 win over Australia in the other semifinal.

Canada remained at 14 medals (three gold, four silver, seven bronze), good for 14th spot on the medal table. Overall, Canada has the 12th most medals.

China leads the medal table with 29 gold, seven more than the United States. Overall, the Americans have the most medals with 64. China has 62.

The last time Canada and the United States met in Olympic soccer was in the semifinals of the London Games. In a wildly entertaining contest, the Americans won 4-3 in extra time despite a hat trick from Sinclair.

Canadasa国际传媒檚 previous victory over the Americans was a 3-0 decision at the Algarve Cup in March 2001. The Americans hold a decisive 51-4-7 record in head-to-head matches between the teams.

Canada dropped a 1-0 decision to the U.S. when the teams last met at the SheBelieves Cup in February.

sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e played the U.S. so many times but this time around we came into this tournament with the mindset of changing the colour of the medal. And we showed that. Isa国际传媒檓 just super proud of the team,sa国际传媒� defender/midfielder Ashley Lawrence said.

20 years in the making. |

sa国际传媒� Team Canada (@TeamCanada)

Canada has a 5-14-4 record against Sweden, with the last result being a 1-0 loss in the round of 16 at the 2019 FIFA Womensa国际传媒檚 World Cup.

Meanwhile, itsa国际传媒檚 four up, four down for Canadasa国际传媒檚 top-ranked beach volleyball duo sa国际传媒� and theysa国际传媒檝e done it without dropping a single set.

Torontosa国际传媒檚 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan of Kitchener, Ont., remain perfect at the Tokyo Olympics after winning their round-of-16 match.

The Canadian duo dispatched Spainsa国际传媒檚 Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan 2-0, overpowering their opponents 21-13, 21-13.

Humana-Paredes and Pavan, the reigning world champions, have won all four of their pool matches 2-0.

Canada is the only country with two teams left in the tournament.

Humana-Paredes and Pavan will face Australiasa国际传媒檚 Mariafe Artacho Del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

That match will be held right after Heather Bansley of Waterdown, Ont., and Torontosa国际传媒檚 Brandie Wilkerson play Latviasa国际传媒檚 Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in their quarterfinal matchup.

sa国际传媒淣ormally at this stage there would be two Americans or two Brazilians but yousa国际传媒檙e seeing two Canadians now and I think that says a lot about our program and our federation,sa国际传媒� said Humana-Paredes. sa国际传媒淚 think as a country we should be really proud of where we are.sa国际传媒�

Humana-Paredes and Pavan have been dominant since they first partnered together five years ago. Theysa国际传媒檝e reached the finals at 14 international events and won seven, including the 2019 world title and a 2018 Commonwealth Games gold.

In track and field, Totontosa国际传媒檚 Matthew Hughes raced to sixth in the mensa国际传媒檚 3,000-metre steeplechase in eight minutes 16.03 seconds. Itsa国际传媒檚 the best result by a Canadian in an event dominated by runners from African nations. Vancouversa国际传媒檚 John Gay was 15th.

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In the womensa国际传媒檚 5,000 metre final, Andrea Seccafein of Guelph, Ont., finished 15th.

Saskatoonsa国际传媒檚 Anicka Newell qualified for the final of the womensa国际传媒檚 pole vault with a successful attempt of 4.55 metres.

Earlier, two sisters from Toronto are through to the semifinals of the 1,500 metres.

Gabriela Debues-Stafford won her heat in four minutes 3.70 seconds ahead of Britainsa国际传媒檚 Laura Muir to qualify for Wednesdaysa国际传媒檚 first semifinal. Her younger sister Lucia Stafford finished seventh with a personal-best time of 4:03.52 and advanced to the second semifinal.

sa国际传媒淚 have my eyes on something big in the finals, so Isa国际传媒檓 happy to get the first round done,sa国际传媒� said Debues-Stafford. sa国际传媒淚 felt really good doing it.sa国际传媒�

Natalia Hawthorn of North Vancouver, B.C., came in 10th in her heat and was eliminated.

Torontosa国际传媒檚 Crystal Emmanuel failed to advance to the finals of the 200 metres despite a bounce-back performance that saw her win her heat with a season-best time of 22.74 seconds. Her semifinal effort fell short of her earlier speed as she finished sixth in 23.05.

There were some mixed results for Canada in canoe sprint.

Andr茅anne Langlois of Lac Beauport, Que., and Michelle Russell of Fall River, N.S., qualified for the 200-metre kayak single semifinals. Langlois won her quarterfinal in 41.728 seconds. Russell narrowly advanced, beating out Britainsa国际传媒檚 Emily Lewis by five thousandths of a second.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 glad to be on the right side of the photo finish,sa国际传媒� said Russell. sa国际传媒淚 had no idea where I was for the whole race. When we crossed the line, Emily Lewis right next to me, wesa国际传媒檙e looking at each other and didnsa国际传媒檛 know what was going on.sa国际传媒�

The mensa国际传媒檚 team of Roland Varga and Connor Fitzpatrick advanced to the 1,000-metre canoe double semifinal.

But Simon McTavish of Oakville, Ont., was eliminated from the 1,000 kayak singles. The team of Alanna Bray-Lougheed and Madeline Schmidt failed to progress in the 500-metre kayak double.

In wrestling, Danielle Lappage of Olds, Alta., lost her opening womensa国际传媒檚 68-kilogram match 7-0 to Russian wrestler Khanum Velieva and failed to advance to the quarterfinal.

sa国际传媒淚 was really confident, I had a good feeling and I just thought it would have ended differently,sa国际传媒� said Lappage.

Also not moving on is the Canadian womensa国际传媒檚 basketball team, which needed help in Mondaysa国际传媒檚 final slate of group stage games after finished third in its pool at 1-2. The Canadians didnsa国际传媒檛 get it and ended up ninth in the combined rankings, one spot out of a quarterfinal berth.

Away from the venues, Halifax gymnast Ellie Black confirmed she will participate in Tuesdaysa国际传媒檚 balance beam final. Blacksa国际传媒檚 participation was in doubt after she pulled out of last weeksa国际传媒檚 womensa国际传媒檚 all-around final with a sprained left ankle.

The Canadian Press

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