Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Canadian weightlifter Maude Charron made sure that, at least in some way, Christine Girard was able to be part of the experience that comes with winning an Olympic gold medal.
Charron won gold in the women's 64-kilogram event on Tuesday, and she spoke of what it means to follow in the footsteps of Girard, one of the sport's trailblazers.
"She's like my idol," Charron said. "When I won my first Canadian national championship, she was the one who gave me my gold medal. I was like 'Oh my god, that's Christine Girard! And I'm still: 'Oh my god, that's Christine Girard talking to me."'
Girard won Canada's first ever weightlifting gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics. But she was denied her Olympic championship moment. Originally awarded a bronze, Girard wouldn't receive the medal she rightfully earned until years later, after the London gold and silver medallists were eventually stripped of their medals for doping infractions.
"Now I just feel like that's her medal, that's her moment, because she didn't have it in real time," Charron said. "So this is just a medal and a moment due to Canada."
Charron from Rimouski, Que., put the finishing touches on her medal with a successful lift of 131 kilograms on her third and final clean and jerk attempt.
Charron also had the highest score in the snatch phase, lifting 105 kilograms. Her total of 236 points over the two phases was four better than silver medallist Giorgia Bordignon of Italy.
Wen-Huei Chen of Taiwan finished third.
"Everyone does their thing, and if the bar falls, the bar falls," Charron said. "That's the game, that's the play, that's the sport -- you miss or you make it.:
The 28-year-old lifted her hands in triumph as she climbed the podium and appeared to wipe away tears as the Canadian anthem played.
"Actually I don't remember, I was just crying and I didn't realize what happened," she said with a laugh.
"I thought about my grandmother because once she told me she'd like me to sing the Canadian anthem, so I sang it -- but on the podium at the Olympics."
The weightlifter, who had once gone to circus school and dreamt of being a gymnast, said going into the Games that her goal was to give her best performance.
However, she had already established herself as a medal contender earlier this year when she won gold at the Pan American Championships in April, breaking three records on her way.
And her recent success came without having a gym to train at due to COVID-19.
"My gym in Quebec closed so I had to take my stuff -- my bar and my plates -- to my dad's garage," she said. "I trained there for a whole year along with my dog.
"It was fine, I just picture myself there in my peaceful place and it puts me in the right mood."
Charron's gold is Canada's second of the games after swimmer Maggie Mac Neil won the women's 100-metre butterfly on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2021.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.