Caroline Crossley of Victoria, now forever the subject of a trivia question, will go into the books as first Canadian player to score a try in the Commonwealth Games.
There were plenty more where that came from as women鈥檚 rugby sevens made its Commonwealth Games debut Friday at Gold Coast 2018.
The Langford-based Canadian team opened with a 29-0 victory over South Africa and 24-12 win over Kenya before dropping a 24-7 decision to the No. 2 New Zealand Black Ferns.
Despite the loss to the Kiwis, sa国际传媒 qualified for the medal round and will play an opponent to be determined today in a semifinal at 6 p.m. PDT. The women鈥檚 bronze-medal match is tonight at 8:55 p.m. PDT and the gold-medal final at 9:42 p.m. PDT.
This comes two years after sa国际传媒 won the bronze medal at Rio 2016 when women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 rugby sevens made their Olympic debuts together.
However, while men鈥檚 rugby has been in the Commonwealth Games since the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the women have only been welcomed in this year at Gold Coast.
鈥淭here was so much excitement leading into this tournament,鈥� said Canadian captain Ghislaine Landry, in a post-game media scrum in Gold Coast.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been fighting for gender equity and we鈥檝e come so far. To be 2018, and this first women鈥檚 tournament, is a really important step, but is a few years late. [Yet] to be part of it is a real honour and exciting.鈥�
Landry noted it is especially important for players, such as Oak Bay High grad Crossley, who made the national team after the Rio Olympics: 鈥淭he younger girls get a multi-sport Games under their belts.鈥�
The women鈥檚 sevens teams in Gold Coast, and also those from outside the Commonwealth, will be on display during the sa国际传媒 Cup on May 12-13 at Westhills Stadium.
The Langford-based Canadian men鈥檚 side, meanwhile was beaten 26-10 by Kenya in its pivotal Games opener Friday before rebounding for a blowout 47-0 victory over Zambia as Mike Fuailefau of Victoria scored three tries. The Canadians鈥� medal-round fate rested on a very difficult final pool game played early this morning PDT against world No. 3 New Zealand.
The Canadian men鈥檚 team in Gold Coast includes Island players Oak Bay-product Connor Braid and SMUS-grads Fuailefau and Luke McCloskey of Victoria, Cowichan High-grad Pat Kay of Duncan, Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes and UVic alumni Lucas Hammond and Nathan Hirayama.
In a gripping men鈥檚 basketball semifinal game Friday, Conor Morgan of Victoria had 19 points and Mamadou Gueye hit a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer, as sa国际传媒 stunned the heavily-favoured New Zealand Tall Blacks 88-86 to advance to today鈥檚 gold-medal game at 6:30 p.m. PDT against Australia.
There are 283 Canadian athletes competing in Gold Coast, of which 52 are from the Island or who live and train full-time in Greater Victoria.
