The first week of the 2025 Canada Summer Games is behind us. Week one of the Games saw great action, lots of medals awarded, and countless unforgettable memories.
The week kicked off with Newfoundland and Labrador’s very own Gavin Baggs taking home silver in Men’s para 400m freestyle. This would set the tone for Team NL in swimming as Thomas Pelley went on to take home two medals of his own in the Men’s Special Olympics 50m and 100m freestyle. Pelley earned the province bronze in the 50m and silver in the 100m.
In basketball, NL’s Men’s team placed 9th, with the gold medal going to Alberta. The women’s team also placed 9th, with Alberta taking the gold as well.
One of the best NL non-medal moments occurred in men’s baseball as Kieran Cutler hit a grand slam in the team’s first game in a 9-7 victory. Unfortunately, the magic would run out as the team would go on to place 9th, with the gold going to British Columbia in an exhilarating 3-2 victory over Quebec.
Rugby Seven’s was one of the highlights of the whole week. Team NL’s men’s team placed 7th, with the gold going to Ontario. The women’s team would place 10th, with British Columbia taking home the gold here.
Medal day for soccer saw the week’s first rainfall. This led to team NL’s game being delayed. Unfortunately, the team would place 8th after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to P.E.I.. The gold medal match between Alberta and Quebec was easily the standout of the whole week. Quebec was trying to defend their title from the previous games and was absolutely stifled by Alberta keeper Blake Morrison. Despite his great play, Alberta could not give their heroic keeper any offensive support. The game would go into 30 minutes of extra time, tied at 0. This would solve nothing, leading to penalty kicks where Quebec’s own Alexander Makarova George would score the winner in the 5th round, leading Quebec to back-to-back gold medals.
As of Sunday, August 17th, Quebec leads the medal table with 103 medals overall, 35 of them gold medals. Ontario is on their tail with 102; however, they have 37 gold medals. The third-place team is British Columbia with 67. Team NL currently has 3, all coming from swimming.
Next week will be an exciting one with Lacrosse, Artistic Swimming, Diving, Wrestling, Track, Women’s Soccer, and – for the first time in Canada Games history – Women’s Baseball.
Team NL will start the entire event at 7:30 pm on Monday, August 18th, at St. Pat’s Ballpark in a tilt against British Columbia. This will be the only game of the entire day. It is an absolute can’t miss event, so show up, support our province for this historic game.
Watch our Week 1 recap video below, and stay tuned for more Canada Games coverage.
