Olympic-bound Canadian surfer Sanoa Dempfle-Olin collects Pan Am Games silver medal
Toronto's Shady El Nahas wins judo gold; Dylan French of B.C. claims fencing title
Sanoa Dempfle-Olin bobbed in the Pacific waves with her face in her hands when she realized what was ahead of her.
The 18-year-old surfer from Tofino, B.C., qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games by reaching Monday's Pan American Games women's final. No Canadians surfed when the sport made its Olympic debut in Tokyo just over two years ago.
With Brazilian finalist Tatiana Weston-Webb already bound for Paris — although the French Polynesian island of Tahiti will provide the Olympic surfing venue — the 18-year-old Canadian needed a semifinal win for Olympic qualification.
Dempfle-Olin posted two strong scores early in the semifinal session for a 10-4.20 win over Costa Rica's Leilani McGonagle.
"Getting towards the end of the heat, I was in the lead, and before the buzzer sounds, anything can happen," Dempfle-Olin told The Canadian Press from Chile.
"As soon as I heard the countdown and heard the buzzer sound, I definitely felt all the emotions, releasing the pressure, all of it from the last two weeks of training here.
"So after the heat, after it was official and the buzzer sounded, I had my head in my hands for a few minutes and just soaked it all in. Kind of let go and felt all the emotions."
18-year-old Canadian Sanoa Dempfle-Olin rode the wave all the way to silver today at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Santiago2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Santiago2023</a>, AND provisionally qualified for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Paris2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Paris2024</a> 🥈🏄♀️<br><br>More: <a href="https://t.co/NAWU7aTYU9">https://t.co/NAWU7aTYU9</a> <a href="https://t.co/cWtc4grgkz">pic.twitter.com/cWtc4grgkz</a>
—@CBCOlympicsDempfle-Olin was mobbed by teammates on the shoreline after emerging from the sea at Punta de Lobos, roughly 220 kilometres southwest of Santiago.
"It still doesn't feel real but on the jet-ski ride back into the beaches, I didn't even believe it," she said. "Seeing them all on the beach made it extra-special. It confirmed it."
The Canadian ended the day with a silver medal. She was beaten 12.33-10.13 by the 27-year-old veteran Weston-Webb for gold.
"She's an amazing surfer and on tour for years. I've looked up to her pretty much my whole life," Dempfle-Olin said.
"In my semifinal, I was lucky to get the ball rolling pretty quick and get my two scoring waves pretty quickly. The final, it was a little bit harder to find them. It was a bit messier out there and the rip was also really strong, so it was super-hard to stay in position. It took me a little longer to find waves that had great potential."
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Dempfle-Olin's Olympic qualification is provisional upon her competing in the ISA World Surfing Games from Feb. 22 to March 2 in Puerto Rico.
Two Canadians would have to finish both ahead of her and among the top seven women in Puerto Rico to knock Dempfle-Olin off her Olympic berth.
That's a tall order with over 100 women competing for seven remaining Olympic spots, Surf Canada executive director Dom Domic said.
"I would bet the house that Sanoa has fully punched her ticket to Paris 24," he said. "It's literally almost assured."
Dempfle-Olin's older sister, Mathea, earned Pan Am Games bronze when the sport was introduced in Lima in 2019. The sisters grew up surfing Tofino's cold waters in wetsuits.
Mathea, 20, didn't qualify for Santiago, but Sanoa did by finishing fourth in April's Pan American Surfing Games in Panama.
El Nahas motivated by Chilean crowd
Toronto's Shady El Nahas can now share Pan Am Games medals with his brother and fellow judoka.
Making his event debut, El Nahas defeated Thomas Briceño of Chile on Monday by ippon with 22 seconds remaining in their four-minute, gold-medal match in the men's under 100-kilogram weight class.
Mohab El Nahas won 2019 Pan Am bronze in Lima.
"I knew the crowd was going to be against me and people were going to cheer for him. I used that as motivation," El Nahas said of Briceño in an interview with Rob Pizzo of CBC Sports.
"I wanted to play it smart. Usually, I go for big throws, big attacks but I was like, 'We need a gold medal for Canada in judo, so I'm going to play it smart' and it worked."
WATCH | El Nahas catches Chilean opponent off guard to win gold:
After the match, El Nahas hugged the 30-year-old Briceño, lifted his arm and talked into his ear.
"We've known each other for a long time [and] we're very close buddies," El Nahas said of the 2019 Pan Am Games champion. "I told him, 'I'm sorry I had to beat you at your house … but it was an honour to fight with you.'"
El Nahas anticipated a loud crowd so his coach used hand signals during the match.
"I love when the crowd's against me. It just pumps me up more," said El Nahas, who was fifth in his 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo. "I rained a little bit on their parade, but I'm happy for the win."
Shady El Nahas, who is ranked fifth in the world in his weight bracket, has won nine IJF Grand Slam medals.
A week ago, the 25-year-old reigning Commonwealth Games champion earned bronze at a Grand Slam event in Abu Dhabi. It followed his winning performance in early September at the Senior Pan American Oceania Judo Championship in Calgary, where he defended his 2022 title.
WATCH | El Nahas discusses gold medal:
Meanwhile, Canada claimed another combat sport title when Dylan French of Richmond, B.C., beat hometown favourite Pablo Nuñez 15-12 in the men's individual epee fencing final.
The 26-year-old French, who was mobbed by teammates after clinching the victory, was making his multi-sport event debut at the senior level. He previously served as Canada's flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China.
French made quick work of Venezuela's Francisco Limardo in the semifinals with a 15-5 victory. His gold is Canada's first in fencing since 2011.
"It feels great, it's amazing. I got incredible support from all the fans her, my teammates, my coaches. It was an incredible day for sure," French told CBC Sports.
WATCH | French wins gold at Pan Am Games:
Fellow Canadian Eleanor Harvey scored silver in the women's individual foil, falling to American Lee Kiefer 15-6 in the final.Harvey, a two-time Olympian, kept things close with her attacking American rival in the first period with a gap of only two points. But Kiefer, who now holds a 10-2 advantage in head-to-head matches against Harvey, settled things quickly in the second frame to secure her second straight Pan Am title.
With files from CBC Sports
