Trio of Canadian women up for soccer's Ballon d'Or for 1st time in history of award
CBC
The history-making Canadian women's soccer team could further add to its legacy.
Three stalwarts of the gold-medal winning side are up for the Ballon d'Or, presented to the world's top soccer player — the first time Canadians have been nominated for the prestigious award.
But what is the Ballon d'Or?
Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon d'Or had been given out every year since 1956, until the pandemic paused it in 2020.
WATCH | CBC Sports' Signa Butler breaks down 3 Canadians up for Ballon d'Or:
The magazine only started its women's award in 2018 when Norway's Ada Hegerberg took the prize. American star Megan Rapinoe won in 2019.
The women's and men's winners will be announced Nov. 29. Journalists from around the world vote on a shortlist of 20 women and 30 men to decide the prize.
This is separate from The Best FIFA Football Awards, of which Sinclair, goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé and coach Bev Priestman are nominated for. Those honours, voted on by fans, will be handed out Jan. 17, 2022.
Jessie Fleming (Chelsea)
Fleming's goal off a penalty kick in a 1-0 semifinal win over the Americans in Tokyo will go down as one of the seminal moments in Canadian soccer history. The celebration slide at the Canadian sideline was equally terrific.
In all, Fleming scored on three penalties at the Olympics, including two in the gold-medal game against Sweden, but more than that, was a machine in the midfield, playing every minute of every game for the Canadians.
For club, Fleming joined a stacked Chelsea last season, winning the Women's Super League and FA Cup.
This year she's playing a more prominent role, appearing in eight games, starting four and scoring three goals.
Ashley Lawrence (Paris Saint-Germain)
Canada's Kevin Drury battled his way to a gold medal that left him in tears at a World Cup ski cross event on Friday in Val Thorens, France.
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “disappointed” that the main arena slated to host ice hockey at February’s Olympics isn’t yet completed with less than two months to go before the Games are scheduled to be played.
A two-year suspension from competitive swimming has forced Penny Oleksiak to answer questions about drug use, train by herself in public pools and defend her legacy as Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
Hockey, one of the premier events at the Winter Olympics and one that is welcoming NHL players back for the first time in more than a decade, will take place on ice shorter than NHL-regulation size.
Summer McIntosh capped swimming’s U.S. Open with the event record in the women’s 200-metre butterfly on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Some bronze medals are worth their weight in gold. Valerie Grenier's third-place finish in women's giant slalom at the Mont-Tremblant World Cup certainly fits that category.
The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place Friday at 12 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, for the purpose of dividing the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. Once the tournament starts, 32 teams will advance from those preliminary groups to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., buzzed with activity and speculation on Thursday in advance of Friday’s all-important draw for the 2026 men’s World Cup.
By the time the management group for the Canadian men’s national hockey team emerges from marathon meetings on Tuesday, as much as 80 per cent of the roster going to Italy next February should be written in pen.
Canada’s ski mountaineering athletes have their Olympic dreams on the line this weekend at a World Cup event in Solitude, Utah.
Goalie Carter Hart, one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July, will make his first NHL appearance in nearly two years when he starts in goal Tuesday night for the Vegas Golden Knights, who host Chicago.