Day 6 roundup: What the Canadians did

Day 6 roundup: What the Canadians did

Even Mike Brown's might in the pool on Thursday couldn't end Canada's medal drought, as he took fourth in the men's 200-metre breaststroke final, and Day 6 of the Beijing Games ended with no Canadian top-three finish.

'I gave it my all.'—Mike Brown, Canadian Olympic swimmer

The 24-year-old Brown, from Perth, Ont., touched the wall in two minutes 9.03 seconds, missing the podium by just 9-100ths of a second.

"I'd love to be on that podium," a downcast Brown told CBC Sports. "Sorry, guys back home, that I couldn't bring you home a medal, but I gave it my all."

Although Canada remains without a medal, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn't ready to give up on the country's Olympians just yet.

"Let's see how our athletes do as the events progress," Harper said Thursday while fielding questions after a funding announcement in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I gather we have more medal hopes coming up in the back half of the Games. We'll remain optimistic and obviously cheer for everyone who wears the Maple Leaf."
Canada 'a 2nd-half team': COC president

Harper does have a point. Canada won only one medal in the first seven days of the 2004 Athens Games before claiming 11 medals over the final nine days.

"We're not even halfway into the Games right now and we're a second-half team, we've always been a second-half team," said Michael Chambers, the Canadian Olympic Committee's president.

Calgary's Ari Taub became Canada's first Greco-Roman wrestler since the 1996 Games on Thursday. The 37-year-old lawyer was eliminated after losing his first bout 2-1, 4-1 to Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary in the 120-kilogram category.

The women's softball team was leading the U.S. 1-0 through three innings before the game was called to rain. The game will resume Friday.

The heavy rain also washed out Canada's lightweight women's and men's doubles, and the lightweight men's four in rowing. All will now race their semifinals Friday.

The Canadian men's baseball team was handed its first loss of the preliminary round, losing 7-6 to Cuba, the defending Olympic champion.
Swimming to Canadian records

Brown's close call in the men's 200-metre breaststroke final wasn't the only excitement provided by Canadian swimmers Thursday.

Annamay Pierse of Edmonton swam a Canadian-record 2:23.94 to advance in the women's 200 breaststroke final on Friday, while Keith Beavers of Orangeville, Ont., moved on to the 200-metre individual medley final, with a time of 1:59.43.

In other notable Canadian results Thursday:

* Adam Wong was 15th while fellow Calgarian Nathan Gafuik was 17th in the all-round men's gymnastics final.
* Canada finished seventh in women's team fencing sabre. The Canadians lost to France in the quarter-finals 45-22, then lost to Poland 45-44 in the fifth-place match, before rebounding to defeat South Africa 45-16 to clinch seventh spot.
* In judo, Marylise Levesque of St-Pacome, Que., lost to Yang Xiuli of China in the quarter-final. Keith Morgan of Calgary lost to Daniel Barta of Romania in the round of 16.
* The Canadians dropped a 3-0 decision to Germany in team table tennis competition.