Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Canadian and Swedish team officials have asked organizers to push back the scheduled late-morning kickoff time for the women's soccer final to avoid the searing heat expected Friday at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.
"The COC supports Canada Soccer's request to change the time of the women's soccer final," Canadian Olympic Committee chief sport officer Eric Myles said Wednesday in a statement. "It is in the best interest of the athletes."
The final is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time Friday (10 p.m. eastern time on Thursday). The local forecast called for mostly sunny conditions and a high of 34 C, with the humidity expected to make it feel more like the low 40s.
Moving the kickoff to the late afternoon would allow the athletes to play in the shade at the 68,000-seat outdoor stadium, since the sun sets in the early evening this time of year in Tokyo.
The Olympic Stadium is also home to athletics competition, but the first track and field event at the venue on Friday isn't scheduled to begin until 8:25 p.m. A soccer game typically lasts about two hours, but extra time or a penalty shootout could extend play into a third hour.
Fredrik Madestam, the media officer for the Swedish women's national team, said Wednesday that the federation's delegation head confirmed the Swedish national committee had put in a request with the IOC to delay the start.
Marika Domanski Lyfors, the head of Sweden's women's team, said she had discussed the request with FIFA, the sport's governing body.
"It is primarily about the players' health we're thinking about and trying to change the time of the game," she told Swedish media late Tuesday. "There's a pretty big difference between playing in the afternoon or evening, and we are very much exposed to the warmth and heat."
Messages left with IOC media relations staff were not immediately returned.
Madestam, who said Lyfors spoke to reporters in Swedish, confirmed the translation.
"If we have to play at 11 o'clock in the morning, then we are prepared, but it would clearly be much better for the performance and the game to have the possibility to play it later," Lyfors said. "Canada have exactly the same opinion."
Canada Soccer issued a brief statement Wednesday.
"Canada Soccer is also in support of changing the kickoff time of the gold medal match at the Tokyo 2020 women's Olympic football tournament to ensure the health and safety of our players," it said.
Canada qualified for its first-ever appearance in the Olympic women's soccer final with a 1-0 victory over the United States on Monday at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. That game kicked off at 5 p.m. local time.
Sweden defeated Australia 1-0 in the other semi, in a game that kicked off at 8 p.m. Monday local time at International Stadium Yokohama.
Sweden holds the No. 5 position in the latest FIFA rankings, three spots ahead of Canada.
"We definitely have some mixed results against Sweden," Canadian defender Kadeisha Buchanan said after her team's semifinal win. "Sometimes we win, sometimes we don't get the result that we want.
"It'll be a good match, a good final."
The Canadian team was expected to train and hold a formal media availability on Thursday.
Sweden won silver at the 2016 Games in Rio. Canada won bronze five years ago and also took third place at the 2012 London Games.
The women's bronze-medal game between the U.S. and Australia was scheduled for a 5 p.m. start on Thursday at Kashima.
Both men's medal games were scheduled to kick off at night.
Mexico and Japan will meet for bronze Friday (8 p.m. local) at Saitama Stadium. The men's final between Brazil and Spain will be played Saturday (8:30 p.m. local) in Yokohama.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2021.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.