Pan Am: Canada nets 22 medals on Saturday

Alexandra Orlando

Canadian Press

7/28/2007 9:33:52 PM

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CP) - Canada was busy on the final full day of competition at the Pan American Games, winning a whopping 22 medals Saturday, including seven gold.

The final flurry of medals pushed Canada's total to 134, six more than it won four years ago in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The only medal event involving Canadians before Sunday's closing ceremony is show jumping.  Canada remained fourth in the medal standings with 38 gold, 42 silver and 54 bronze. The United States will once again finish atop the medal standings. Heading into the final day, the Americans had 232 medals (97-85-50), while Cuba retained second spot with 132 (58-35-39) and Brazil was in third with 155 (49-39-67).

Standings are calculated using number of gold medals.

Rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Orlando of Toronto led the parade to the podium Saturday, winning three gold medals to become the most decorated Canadian athlete at the Games.

Kayakers also had a good day as Jill D'Alessio of Middle Sackville, N.S., won the women's K-1 500 metres race and Kia Byers of Regina and Marie-Christine Schmidt of Lachine, Que., took gold in the women's K-2 500. Also stepping atop the podium were Karen Cockburn of Toronto in women's trampoline and Dominique Vallee of Trois-Rivieres, Que., in women's windsurfing.

The men's and women's archery teams each captured silver medals as did kayaker Angus Mortimer of Ottawa, the women's synchronized swim team, the men's 4x100-metre relay team, the women's softball team and trampoline athletes Rosannagh MacLennan of Toronto and Jason Burnett of Nobleton, Ont.

In the dive tank, Montreal's Alexandre Despatie finished third in the 10-metre platform, while Montreal's Meaghan Benfeito and Kelly MacDonald of Edmonton also pulled off bronze medals in the three-metre synchro event. Dariusz Slowik of Richmond, B.C., claimed bronze in the men's discus, while wrestlers Matt Gentry of Vancouver and Mike Neufeld of St. Catharines, Ont., were also bronze medallists. Canada finished third in the group all-around final and Toronto's Erwyn Naidoo and Mississauga, Ont., teammates Mark Goodyear, Rossi Milev and Mike Wolfs combined for a bronze in sailing's J24 - Keelboat division.

Boxer Didier Bence of Laval, Que., who lost in the super heavyweight semifinals earlier in the week, was also officially declared the bronze medallist following the gold-medal bout.

Orlando recorded a score of 14.650 in rope, while she earned 14.450 in hoop and 15.350 in clubs. She would have had a good shot at five golds had she not had an equipment malfunction earlier in the week.

Orlando received a zero in ribbon qualifying after the ribbon became detached from the stick. Had she completed the event, she would have been favoured to win the gold in the ribbon portion of the individual apparatus competition and the all-around final.

"It sounds horrible, but I really wanted five," she said. "That was my goal coming down here was to gain the overall title. It was such a once in a lifetime fluke accident.

"It's never happened to me in 15 years of being in this sport - ever."  Canada's paddlers finished tied for second in the Pan American Games regatta with a total of seven medals.

"We knew coming in we were going to get quite a few medals," Mortimer said. "But even though you're matching your expectations you're still happy because your expectations were high in the first place."

Vallee also fulfilled her goal for these Games.  "At the Pan Ams in Santo Domingo, I got silver, and I promised myself that the next time, I would get gold," she said. "Everything went well this week. I won five out of nine races."

Cockburn won the women's trampoline event with a score of 37.50 to beat MacLennan, who took silver at 36.50.  Burnett won silver on the men's side with a score of 38.60.

"I was really nervous, this is a huge title, first Pan Am Games for trampoline," Cockburn said. "This is a title I really wanted to win." <

On a cold night at the track, the men's 4x100 relay team of Ottawa's Richard Adu-Bobie, Anson Henry of Pickering, Ont., Jared Connaughton of New Haven, P.E.I., and Edmonton's Brian Barnett won silver in 38.87. Brazil took the gold in 38.81, while the Americans won bronze in 38.88.

Slowik threw 57.37 metres to win bronze in the discus.

The medals boosted the Canadian track team's total to 12 at these Games, including six gold - and two more than the team captured in 2003.

Canadian women lost a heartbreaking final 201-199 to Colombia in the team archery final. Marie-Pier Beaudet of Laval, Que., Kristen Niles of Fredericton, and Toronto's Kateri Vrakking settled for silver.  The men's team of Crispen Duenas of Toronto, Winnipeg's Jay Lyon and Hugh MacDonald of Mississauga, Ont., lost 218-210 to the United States.

The synchro team received a score of 47.834 in Saturday's free routine for a total of 95.251, finishing within a hair of the Americans at 95.667 for gold.

The women's softball team won a silver medal without playing a game Saturday. Due to rain, the playoff game between Venezuela and Canada and gold-medal game featuring the U.S., and the winner of the playoff were cancelled. The U.S., was awarded the gold, while Canada and Venezuela each were awarded silver.  "You always want to play when you get the chance," said Canadian coach Lori Sippel. "We were ready to play, we came here to play, and unfortunately it didn't work out with the weather."

Panama edged Canada 68-67 in men's basketball consolation play, while the men's volleyball team finished seventh after beating Mexico in three straight sets (26-24, 25-22, 25-20).