orangeman

Athletics: De Grasse could medal in 100/200 or he could not. It'll be close. The 4x100 will also be close, but I'd wager Canada is on the podium. Netty in women's long jump is a possibility (her performance at the WC last year would have been good enough for bronze in London. Too bad three women suddenly demolished their previous bests there. I'm sure nothing suspicious was going on though...). Agree with the rest, although I think Bishop has just as much chance as De Grasse to medal. Basketball: Agree, but again could go either way depending on how the playoffs shape up. Boxing: Agree, but what happened to Mary Spencer in 2012 who was so hyped and also only needed one win for a medal leaves me skeptical. Canoeing: One minimum, in my opinion. Cycling: I think you're being optimistic. W's team pursuit should be a lock, but our MTBers always underperform at the Olympics. Every year we seem to have a top ranked woman but so far only two have collected medals. But I'm optimistic in the other track events, and maybe Nyhaug can do something in BMX. Diving: Agree. Golf: Agree. Gymnastics: Agree Judo: Agree. Rowing: Agree, hopefully one or more of the other boats will compete for a medal, too. Rugby: Yep. Wrestling: Three is optimistic, but it's not impossible. Swimming: I predict two. I think Cochrane is still ahead of most swimmers in the 1500m, and can compete in the 400m. Overholt might snag one, maybe someone else. We'll see. I think there could be several Canadians in finals, which is saying more than recent Olympics. I've said elsewhere, could be anywhere from 15-25 medals, but I predict around 20-22. That would be a very successful OG for Canada. Anything is possible, but I'm not sure any Canadian is a gold medal favourite in any event. Hopefully some can pull through, though. And then we hope for some surprises, too. Maybe beach volleyball, the Canadian team is ranked in the top 5.

2000 doubles gold medalist Daniel Nestor (CAN) will now be going to Rio. He will team up with Popisil. I assume this has to do with Raonic dropping out last week? http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/daniel-nestor-doubles-specialist-added-canadian-olympic-tennis-team.html

I think having athletes compete under the Olympic flag is an acceptable compromise. I'm really not unsympathetic to the clean athletes, I just think it's basically a choice between the clean Russian athletes and clean athletes from everywhere else. However, I also think banning the whole country would send a message not only to other national federations, but also other athletes. Basically, if you see something say something. Otherwise you could be next. But I will say, if they take a hardline against Russia, they need to start being tough against everyone else. For example, Gatlan should not be able to compete anymore.

Well, we either feel sorry for the dozens/hundreds of clean Russian athletes or we feel sorry for the thousands of clean athletes from everywhere else who will be cheated out of Olympic glory by dirty Russian athletes. If the report is true, then Russia is the one who broke the rules so they should feel the consequences. It's like saying, "Don't put the criminal in jail, it would be unfair to his innocent family!". If Russia wanted to be fair to their clean athletes then they shouldn't have cheated in the first place. I don't think any other country would boycott if Russia is banned. Maybe Belarus? I can't think of anyone else.

Wonderful information, thank you! Very small correction. On Day 5 I believe it should be Men's synchro 3m diving instead of Women's (which is already listed on Day 2).

I agree that doping cases in high profile sports like the Olympics can often be politically motivated. As a Canadian, seeing Ben Johnson stripped of his gold in Seoul and handing it to Carl Lewis was the height of hypocrisy. However, I think it's about time for the IOC to play hardball with state-sponsored doping. The report is pretty damning, if true. Just as a Canadian, I wouldn't mind seeing Russian medals revoked from Sochi (it won't happen) because it'd give us a sweep in Men's moguls and our first luge medal in the team event. Those are just off the top of my head. Unfortunately, we will never know what would have happened with our women's speed skating team which was knocked out in the first round against the Russians, despite posting the 2nd best time of the round. A time that would have been good enough for silver or bronze (which they lowered later in the placing race). I read an interview with a Canadian runner who missed the finals in the 1500m in London by one spot. Since then, four athletes in that final (not just Russians) have been proven to be doping. It's not as easy as moving everyone up a lot of the times. Who knows what would have happened if these cheats weren't there. I say ban Russia. Off the top of my head, I don't think this will help Canada in any events in Rio. Either it's the Olympics without Russia, or every event where a Russian wins a medal will be looked at skeptically. At this point the Games are already tainted by this scandal, but one of the options gives the IOC the opportunity to give a warning to others in the future.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Eff yeah!

They probably want to cut out the parade of nations, tbh. I've seen lots of comments from Americans saying it's 'boring' to watch the other countries walk in. I'm not saying all Americans, just the mainstream viewers. American coverage of the Olympics, both Summer and Winter, is always horrid. Many Americans depend on the Canadian feed to get real, live action. I feel sorry for real American sport fans. Then I remember all the medals they win, and I don't feel sorry anymore.

NBC will be televising the OC on a one-hour delay. They just can't help themselves with these delays for the Olympics, even when it's unnecessary! http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/nbc-air-olympics-opening-ceremony-hour-delay.html

Canada wins group 2 (pretty easily, tbh)! We also secured a second berth in beach volleyball for the men's teams, meaning we join Brazil, the USA and the Netherlands as the only countries to send 2 in each gender! Good news after basketball and Raonic falling at Wimbledon (still proud of him though!).

Oh, Canada Should have qualified at the PanAm qualifications instead of taking Venezuela so lightly. Congratulations France.

Raonic!

With their best players, Canada could be a medal threat in Rio. Instead, they probably won't even qualify. We've got the talent, but we don't have the depth (or the dedication of that talent).

I like watching pretty much everything at the Olympics, but it's frustrating that there have been so few Canadians in the finals of swimming and athletic competitions because there's so many events. It's disappointing to watch hours and hours of races and never see a Canadian even in the semi-finals. Besides baseball/softball which are gone now, our teams have almost always been some of the weakest in their groups, rarely getting to the playoff round (the w's soccer team is an exception, but they still got outplayed on their way to bronze in 2012). But this year our w's rugby team is a favourite for a medal, while our w's basketball team should challenge for one as well. Our m's volleyball team is playing well even though they're in a very tough group in Rio and it'll be difficult to move on, and our m's basketball team should be competitive if they qualify, depending on who shows up. We even have a top-5 ranked w's beach volleyball team!

Yeah, 22 was the most ever by Canada at a non-boycotted SOG (we got 44 in 1984, and it's a shame that this one isn't really counted since it was one of Canada's strongest teams ever and they would have gotten a lot of medals without the boycott). In 2012 Canada was #14 in total medals with 18 (needed 20 for top-12) and we were #13 in 2008 with 19 (needed 24 for top-12). I think it's doable this year, but as always we will still lag behind in golds. Still, I believe there will be a lot more Canadians in finals in swimming and athletics this time around, and more of our teams should be competitive which should make everything more fun regardless of medals.

Canada's goal is to finish in the top-12 of total medals which would require about 22. This is always their goal at the SOG, and it's quite ambitious.

I don't know if I'd count Canada's men's eights. As far as I know, they disbanded the eights in order to concentrate on the smaller boats. They haven't even had an entry in the men's eights in the last 3 World Championships, and I haven't seen them enter one in any major competition in a couple of years (besides the Pan Ams in Toronto last year, but I'm sure that was just put together for the home Games).

It could be anywhere from 15-25 for Canada (though more likely 18-22). Very good shots: M's decathlon, high jump and pole vault; W's heptathlon; W's 8 rowing; W's synchro 3m and 10m diving; W's Team Pursuit Cycling (8) Good shots: W's rugby; M's 200m Kayak; M's 1500m swimming; M's 4x100m relay Athletics; W's trampoline; W's golf; M's Judo (7) Fair shots: W's 800m Athletics; M's 20k walk; M's 400m swimming; W's 400 IM; W's basketball; W's beach volleyball; M's 100m Athletics; M's 200m canoe; M's 1000m kayak; W's mountain bike; W's 3m and 10m diving (12) Anything can happen: Various rowing; various canoe/kayak; M's basketball (if they qualify and then field their best team); W's long jump; W's boxing; W's wrestling; M's BMX; various W's track cycling; Show Jumping; W's football; various W's gymnastics (i.e. Ellie Black on the beam); W's TKD; various swimming (i.e. relays); Tennis doubles/mixed doubles (0-?) I would expect 8/8 from group one, at least 5/7 from group 2, half of group three would be great, and some surprises from group 4 would be fantastic. The issue for Canada is that we have no real favourites for gold in any event. M's high jump and maybe W's trampoline are the closest, though (I put trampoline in group 2 because it is judged and apparently even when certain athletes from certain countries fall down they still get medals, so who knows what will happen).

Apparently Lochte had a groin injury (though it could be an after-race excuse). It's funny to see Phelps' 400 IM in London described as a disaster. He finished 4th, a third of a second off the podium. In Canada he would have received a parade for that performance . It must be really boring being American watching the Olympics, seeing your people win so many medals in everything must numb the excitement.

Wrestling Canada has officially named its team for Rio. Jasmine Mian, Barrie, Ont. (48 kg) Jillian Gallays, Saskatoon (53 kg) Michelle Fazzari, Caledonia, Ont. (58 kg) Danielle Lappage, Vancouver (63 kg) Dori Yeats, Montreal (69 kg) Erica Wiebe, Calgary (75 kg) Haislan Garcia, Surrey, B.C. (65 kg) Korey Jarvis, Elliot Lake, Ont. (125 kg) http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/rio2016/wrestling/wrestling-canada-olympic-roster-1.3646926

How sad Canadian rugby has become (on the men's side, anyway).

Well, I spoke too soon about Canada.

Canada has outscored Uruguay and Sri Lanka 90-0. I know those are weaker teams compared to Samoa and Ireland, but hopefully it's a sign they're taking this tournament very seriously. They've been on a downward trend for the last 2 seasons.

I think 15 is the bare minimum we should expect, with 20 the upper end. But if things work out well in some events and for some athletes, the record of 22 could be broken. The issue for Canada is that we don't have any real favourites for gold, except maybe trampoline just due to Rosie's 2012 gold. It just seems like for each star athlete we have there is always another one who is a bit better (Ryan Cochrane in the 1500m free is the best example of this over the last decade). Again, if things work out well we could see quite a few golds. If things don't work out we could easily be shut out of the top of the podium. But hey, at least Brooke Henderson is peaking at the right time so maybe she can pull something off in golf. I'm just happy that we seem to have a strong athletics team this year in various events (including both the decathlon and heptathlon) so finally all of that will be extra fun to watch. I also feel like we have a lot of teams going this year (fingers still crossed for the m's basketball and rugby teams). Anyone know how that stacks up to other years?