Today the individual competition took place. Gwen MacKay, Megan McCallum and Ben Fudge continued do us proud with great efforts but unfortunately missed out on the finals. 

Gleb Evstigneev soared to new heights and hauled in Team NL’s first medal of the Games. His golden performance was the first ever medal that gymnastics has earned at the Canada Games. Gleb has worked extremely hard and his dedication paid off! The arena was filled with a large contingent of Team NL athletes who provided a loud atmosphere. Way to do your best and nothing less Gleb!

Yesterday was a very busy day for Team NL with most of our sports in competition.  We spent the day hopping from one venue to the next to show our support for our incredible athletes.  I want to send a special shout out to the families and other supporters who have made the trip to PEI to cheer on our team.  

The spirit of the Canada Games was never more evident than at the Biathlon venue yesterday.  The determination of the final two athletes to complete the Female 7.5 km Pursuit was nothing short of inspiring. Our Mission Staff, together with the remaining spectators and volunteers,  stayed behind to cheer on these brave athletes as they crossed the finish line.  Despite the cold weather, there were certainly no dry eyes amongst them. 

Please make sure you take a moment to thank the volunteers.  They have been doing an exceptional job with not only fulfilling their responsibilities but also cheering on the athletes and welcoming all visitors to this wonderful island.  I can’t wait to see what special moments this day will bring!

Day four was yet another early rise for the karate team. Up first in the 16-17 - 59kg Kumite Division was Emma Pittman. She fought 4 hard fights beating Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan but losing to British Columbia and Ontario. With 2 wins and 2 losses there was a 3 way tie between Emma, Ontario and Nova Scotia that needed to be broken. In a round robin format if there's a tie, the tie is broken by who scored the most points over the 4 matches in total. Unfortunately Emma did not have enough points in her 4 matches to move onto the medal rounds and finished 7th overall! 

Next up for the 16-17 -68kg Kumite Division was Noah Ryan.  He fought 3 excellent fights winning against Nova Scotia but losing to Quebec and British Columbia. He also finishes 7th overall! 

This evening we again were able to take in the female curling competition and will be cheering on the men's hockey team when they take on Nova Scotia!

The NL Ladies Curling Team defeated Team NT today in an exciting extra end game. After a 4 - 4 eight end battle, the NL squad protected their stone on the button with several precise guards; all in the front of the 12 foot. Eventually NT conceded the victory as they ran out of rocks.

The girls were very excited with the win and it was great to see the NL Karate team in attendance cheering the girls on.

Team NL will now close out round play tomorrow morning at 10 am against Team Quebec! Keep it going Girls! 

With no competition slated for today, our Biathlon team took a well-earned break and made their way around Charlottetown. They had some fun as a team and also made their way to visit many other TeamNL events. They were on hand to witness our first Gold Medal as well. 

Coach Katie also had an opportunity to test some biathlon laser rifles on for size. 

The gymnastics venue continued to be loud, with provinces screaming in excitement as their athletes gave it their all. Our boys all-around finalists proved themselves once again and hit all of their routines tonight. They all made great improvements from their preliminaries and they are happy with their performance. Congrats to Gabe Flynn, Tyler Gosse and Will Osmond.

Tomorrow female individual competition takes place. 

Team NL made their partnered provinces proud today in taking on Saskatchewan. The team filled the courts with energy as they entered to a large crowd of Newfoundlanders and Nova Scotians cheering them on. All onlookers could easily see how well the team works together. From assists to baskets, to encouraging the cheering crowd from the sidelines, they show the upmost respect and support for each other, both on and off the court. 

To end their round robin play, Saskatchewan took the game 55-27, but it was another great performance and the Games was competitive right until the end.  

Cheer them on this Friday as they play in the consolidation playoffs!  Let’s return the energy they bring to the court each day and rally them on! 

Our Squash team came back to the courts today with a ton of enthusiasm to take on some of their Atlantic Province rivals. The boys team took on TeamNS while the girls stepped up against PEI. 

Unfortunately, they came up a little short overall, but many of the team members picked up impressive wins against Nova Scotia and PEI. 

After finishing up their competition, they were on hand to see their Teammate collect his gold medal in Trampoline. 

TeamNL fall in the Men's Qualifying round to Team NS 4-0. It was a pretty back and forth  game at the start with goalie Donald Hickey holding down the fort. TeamNL hit the post midway through the first period which would have given them the momentum they needed. Instead TeamNS was able to get one by Hickey later in the first when NS player jumped over a rebound and slid it home to put Team NL behind for the first time all week. TeamNL found themselves with 6 minutes of power play time in the second period but couldn't get the offence in gear. NS later added its second goal on a back door feed that was able to elude Hickey and NL were down 2 zip after two. NL started hard in the third but just couldn't find the twine. NS capitalized on the PP when NL failed to clear the puck from the zone. Trailing by 3 with 5 minutes left in the game, TeamNL decided to pull the goalie which led to an empty net goal to seal their fate in this one. The team is back at it 1PM NL time tomorrow against Team Yukon in the placement game at teh Credit Union Place.