What to watch this weekend in international sports

CBC

5 days ago

Here are some things for Canadian fans to keep an eye on:
Most of Canada's top track and field stars, including some Olympic and world champions, are in action this weekend across three different global meets.
The Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia features Olympic 4x100m gold medallists Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown competing against each other in the men's short sprints group, while 800 world champion and Olympic silver medallist Marco Arop tries to improve on his back-to-back second-place finishes in the men's short distance division.
For those who need a refresher on how Grand Slam Track works, athletes race against their peers in two different distances over the course of a weekend and earn points based on where they finish. Whoever ends up with the most points in each eight-person group wins the top prize of $100,000 US. The first two Grand Slam meets, in Jamaica and Miami, took place over three days, but the Philly meet was condensed to two to make it more fan friendly.
In the men's short sprints, De Grasse and Brown will try to take down American Kenny Bednarek, who's undefeated in four Grand Slam races this season. Brown is making his Slam debut, while De Grasse finished eighth in the 100m and fourth in the 200m in Miami. In Philly, they'll race the 200 on Saturday at 5:07 p.m. ET and the 100 on Sunday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
Arop finished second in his group in Jamaica and Miami, winning the 800m at both meets but failing to crack the top five in the 1,500m — a distance he'd raced just twice in his career before this season. Arop's competition this weekend includes Olympic 1,500m champion Cole Hocker of the U.S. and Britain's Josh Kerr and American Yared Nuguse, who joined Hocker on the podium in Paris. They'll do the 800m on Saturday at 4:57 p.m. ET and the 1,500 on Sunday at 5:01 p.m. ET.
You can watch the entire Grand Slam meet live on CBCSports.ca and GEM Gem on Saturday from 4-7 p.m. ET and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. ET. Here's the full schedule and startlists and here's more on the Canadians racing in Philly.
Also on Saturday and Sunday, Canada's top two decathletes will compete in one of their sport's most prestigious events as 2021 Olympic gold medallist Damian Warner and 2023 world champion Pierce LePage face off at the Hypo Meeting in Austria.
Warner, the defending champ, is trying for his record-extending ninth victory at the Hypo. LePage took the title from him in 2023, then defeated Warner at the world championships a few months later to become the first Canadian ever to win a decathlon world title.
Hopes for another 1-2 finish by the Canadians at last year's Olympics were dashed when a back injury ended LePage's season. Then Warner shockingly fouled out in the pole vault in Paris to end his bid for a second straight Olympic gold. Now, they're both trying to put their rough 2024 behind them.
Meanwhile, Canada's his-and-hers Olympic hammer throw gold medallists Camryn Rogers and Ethan Katzberg will both be competing at the Kip Keino Classic in Kenya. Rogers' competition includes three-time Olympic champ Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland. Watch the meet, which is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, live on Saturday from 9-11 a.m. ET.
You can stay up to speed with everything going on in Canadian track and field by watching CBC Sports' new show Trackside with hosts Perdita Felicien and Aaron Brown. This week's guests include Marco Arop. Watch the full episode here.
Other Canadians to watch this weekend
* Unfortunately, there are no Canadians to watch at the French Open anymore after 18-year-old Victoria Mboko's impressive Grand Slam debut ended with a third-round loss to Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng of China today. Mboko was the only Canadian remaining in the singles draws at the clay-court major, and there are no Canadians left in doubles either. Gabriela Dabrowski withdrew before the start of the women's doubles tournament, where she and her New Zealander teammate Erin Routliffe were seeded No. 1.
* Road cyclist Derek Gee ranks fourth in the overall chase at the prestigious Giro d'Italia with two stages left. He trails leader Isaac del Toro of Mexico by almost 2½ minutes, but Gee should be able to secure his best-ever finish in a grand tour after placing 22nd in his Giro debut in 2023 and ninth in his first Tour de France last year.
* Canada and the United States are expected to play for the Para hockey world championship for the eighth straight time on Saturday in Buffalo. The Canadians defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 in the semifinals today, while the U.S. faces China this evening. Canada won last year's final in Calgary to snap the Paralympic champion Americans' run of three straight world titles.
* The Canadian women's soccer team plays the first of two friendlies against Haiti on Saturday in Winnipeg. It'll be the final national-team appearance for veteran midfielder Desiree Scott, who will be honoured in front of a hometown crowd.
* Brooke Henderson headlines the handful of Canadians competing in the U.S. Women's Open, the second (and richest) of the five majors on the LPGA calendar. Meanwhile, Canada's Nick Taylor is near the top of the leaderboard at the Memorial, one of the PGA Tour's lucrative "signature" events.
* Olympic beach volleyball silver medallists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are playing in a Pro Tour Elite 16 event in the Czech Republic, where they were undefeated through two matches. The elimination rounds take place Saturday and Sunday on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. Here's more on the Canadian duo.