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Olympic entries are on the line in track and 3-on-3 basketball, while top Canadian athletes compete in global tennis and beach volleyball events this weekend. Here’s your guide.
Track and field: World Athletics Relays
Fourteen of the 16 Olympics spots in each track relay event — men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m and mixed 4x400m — are up for grabs this weekend in the Bahamas.
The opening round on Saturday night is big. The top two finishers in each of the four heats for every relay clinch an Olympic berth and advance to Sunday night’s final to compete for prize money and preferred lane assignments in Paris. All other teams go to a second-chance qualifying round on Sunday, where the top two in each of the three heats earn a trip to the Olympics. Canada has a team in all five events this weekend.
Andre De Grasse is leading the Canadian men’s 4×100 team’s quest for a third consecutive Olympic medal. He anchored the squad to bronze in 2016 and silver in 2021 before a stunning gold-medal victory at the 2022 world championships in Oregon. At last year’s worlds in Budapest, Canada failed to qualify for the final as De Grasse sat out the preliminary round to rest for his 200m final a couple of hours later.
WATCH | Canadian relay teams target Olympic qualification at worlds:
Track and field is an individual sport, except when it comes to the relays, and when they come together that’s when Team Canada athletes really thrive. Team Canada is looking to qualify all 5 relay teams for Paris 2024, and Word Athletics Relays is their chance.
Also keep an eye on Canada’s underrated women’s 4×400 team. It’s been on the cusp of the podium at the past three major competitions, placing fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 and ’23 world championships.
Read more about Canada’s goals for the World Athletics Relays in this story by CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux, who’s in the Bahamas covering the meet. Watch every race live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem on Saturday and Sunday from 7-10:30 p.m. ET. For specific race times, here’s the full schedule of events.
WATCH | Athletics Canada coach instilling focus, patience in his teams:
Athletics Canada head coach, Glenroy Gilbert instilling focus and patience in his teams at World Athletics Relays. The goal is Olympic qualification and focusing on fundamentals will be key to the team’s success. Stream it all live Saturday & Sunday at 6:55PM ET on cbcsports.ca & CBC Gem
Basketball: Olympic women’s 3-on-3 qualifier
The Canadian team of Paige Crozon, Kacie Bosc and twin sisters Katherine and Michelle Plouffe are ranked No. 1 in the world in this fast-paced, half-court, outdoor version of hoops. They captured their second consecutive FIBA Women’s 3×3 Series title last year after winning six tour stops and took silver at the 3×3 World Cup in 2022.
But they don’t have an invitation to the Olympics yet. To get one this weekend, they must win an eight-team qualifying tournament in Japan that began today and ends Sunday.
So far, so good: the Canadians beat Kenya 19-12 in the group-stage opener this morning. They’ll face the Netherlands on Saturday at 2:25 a.m. ET and Australia on Saturday at 5:55 a.m. ET. The top two teams in both groups advance to the semifinals on Sunday at 4:20 and 4:45 a.m. ET. The winners of those matchups play for the Olympic spot on Sunday at 6:20 a.m. ET.
If Canada does not win the tournament, it will have one more chance to qualify for the Olympics later this month in Hungary. The Canadian men’s team, which is not playing in Japan, will be part of the Hungary qualifier.
Watch the women’s and men’s tournaments in Japan live on CBC Sports’ streaming platforms. Saturday’s games run from 2-8:20 a.m. ET, followed by the semifinals and finals on Sunday starting at 4:20 a.m. ET. Here’s the full schedule.
Other stuff to watch
* 2021 Olympian Felix Auger-Aliassime got an easy pass to the men’s final at the clay-court Madrid Open this afternoon when 30th-seeded Jiri Lehecka quit their match in the first set due to an injury. It’s the third time in the tournament that the unseeded Auger-Aliassime advanced via walkover. He’ll face seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia in Sunday’s final. Madrid is a highly regarded tuneup for the French Open, the final Grand Slam event before Olympic berths are decided by the world rankings on June 10. The 35th-ranked Auger-Aliassime will likely be Canada’s best hope for a singles tennis medal in Paris.
* Canada’s top beach volleyball tandem of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are playing in a Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Brazil. The world’s No. 4-ranked team finished 2-1 in the group stage after splitting a pair of matches today. The playoff rounds take place Saturday and Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. ET both days. Watch live on CBC Sports’ streaming platforms.
Additional Olympic and Paralympic sports on the streaming menu this weekend include the Canada Cup of Diving in Calgary and a World Boccia Cup event in Montreal. See the full streaming schedule here.
