BREAKING Pearson gold heist suspect arrested after flying into Toronto from India
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Kylie Masse set the pace in a lightning-fast women's backstroke final to emerge with an Olympic silver medal.
The 25-year-old from LaSalle, Ont., led at the halfway turn in the 100-metre backstroke with the fastest first length of her life.
Australia's Kaylee McKeown caught Masse at the wall to take gold by just over two tenths of a second.
Both women went under the Olympic record set in the previous day's semifinals by bronze medallist Regan Smith of the U.S.
"I knew it was an incredibly challenging and talented field of backstrokers that have been swimming crazy-fast this whole year, so I knew it was going to be a battle," Masse said.
"I'm proud of myself to get on the podium tonight."
Her medal was the third in as many days for the Canadian women's swim team following Maggie Mac Neil's gold in the 100-metre butterfly Monday and a freestyle relay silver Sunday.
Toronto's Penny Oleksiak and Sydney Pickrem of Clearwater, Fla., qualified for the 200-metre freestyle and 200-metre individual medley finals respectively Tuesday. They'll race Wednesday morning local time (Tuesday evening in Canada).
McKeown's winning time was two hundredths of a second off her world record of 57.47 seconds. Masse's 57.72 was two hundredths back of her career-best in June's Olympic trials.
Masse (pronounced Moss) is a double world champion in 100 backstroke, having claimed titles in 2019 in Gwangju, South Korea, and 2017 in Budapest.
The global COVID-19 pandemic upended Masse's swimming life for over a year leading into Tokyo, so the Canadian was philosophical about missing out on gold.
"It would have been incredible to have gotten gold. I would have absolutely loved that," Masse said. ""I went the second-fastest time that I've ever gone and I have to be happy with that. I'm proud of that in an Olympic final.
"After such a crazy year, I don't think you can be too hard on yourself."
Masse's home pool is at the University of Toronto, where she trains under coaches Linda Kiefer and Bryon MacDonald.
With that pool closed for much of the COVID-19 pandemic, she relocated to Toronto's Pan Am Sports Centre last year to join a training group overseen by Ben Titley.
When the first wave of the pandemic shut down all pools for weeks in the spring of 2020, Masse got into a harness and tethered herself to a fence so she could swim in place in her parents' backyard pool.
"Everyone's faced challenges this year," Masse said. "Some more than others. I don't want to ever use that as an excuse. I did everything I possibly could."
Masse felt she was able to compensate for a lack of races over the last year with an unprecedented volume of training.
"That helped me go 57 (seconds) early in the year and helped me go 57 now," she said. "That's the fastest I've been in five years.
"I know that the training that I've done this last year, even (with) all of the obstacles, has been successful and some of the best training I've had in my life."
Masse tied for Olympic bronze with China's Fu Yuanhui in Rio in 2016.
The only other women in the world to win multiple career medals in 100 backstroke are American Natalie Coughlin, Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.
Toronto's Summer McIntosh, the youngest athlete on Canada's Olympic team at 14, placed ninth in the 200-metre freestyle semifinal Tuesday to finish just outside the top eight advancing.
Women's 1,500-metre freestyle made its Olympic debut in Tokyo. Katrina Bellio, a 16-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., finished 21st.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
Ontario Provincial Police confirm one person has died after a single-vehicle rollover crash in Sharbot Lake, Ont. that seriously injured five others.
A grieving mother is speaking out after her 36-year-old son was shot and killed in North Preston, N.S., Wednesday night.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.