Canada Finally Gets on The Medal Table in Beijing

Canada finally got on the board on Day 9 of the Olympics with three medals on Saturday. 

After 9 days of frustration and huge pressure Canada got over the hump in a big way.  It started with the men's rowing pair of Dave Calder and Scot Frandsen taking silver.

Carol Huynh kept it going with an impressive victory in the 48 kg wrestling final, which gave Canada a gold medal.

The two medals seemed to take some pressure off the rest of the Canadian Olympians as Tonya Verbeek won bronze in the the 55 kg wrestling category. 

For Carol Huynh it was a huge honour and an extremely proud moment to win the gold for Canada.

"I was just thinking how proud I am to be Canadian," Huynh said. "And I was just thinking about the road to how I got here. It's been a long one but a good one."  For Huynh it was her first Olympics and what she hopes to be the start of an excellent career.

Calder and Frandsen were equally thrilled with their silver in the rowing.

"I'm really proud of it and Scott is really proud of it," said Calder. "The Australians had a great push through the middle. We pushed back a little bit but congratulations to them. They definitely deserved that. We're very happy with a silver medal today." 

For Calder the silver medal helped erase the memory of Athens four years ago when his team was disqualified in the semi's for leaving their lane. That year Frandsen was a member of the men's eight that finished fifth in Athens, so it was great vindication for both these men. 

The night finished strong for Canada when Tonya Verbeek added a bronze medal to her Olympic collection after a 1-0 1-0 victory in the 55 kg wrestling over Sweden's Ida Theres Nerell. 

With the monkey off their back, Canada is looking to add to their medal tally. Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver advanced to the final of the springboard competition on Sunday, while Canadian gymnasts Jason Burnett and Rosannagh Maclennan progressed in the trampoline. 

Medal hopefuls Adam Van Koeverden, Simon Whitfield and Tyler Christopher are still to compete and the future looks a little brighter for the Canadian athletes.

The pressure is off for the time being with the hope of more podium finishes as the Games continue to play out.