LONDON - Derek Drouin prevents a third straight day without a medal for Canada at the Olympic Games with a surprising bronze in high jump Tuesday.
Canada had a couple of near-misses for the podium on Day 11, finishing fourth in both synchronized swimming and track cycling.
The objective is top-12 in 2012 in the overall medal count. Canada improved to 11 medals and is alone in 12th.
The good:
— Drouin of Sarnia, Ont., wins that out-of-the-blue medal the Canadian team needs to regain momentum. Drouin takes advantage of the world and Olympic champions faltering early and earns Canada's first medal in high jump since Greg Joy in 1976.
The bad:
— Synchronized swimming judges didn't love the "Jester" free routine performed a second time by Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., and Elise Marcotte of Quebec City enough to upgrade the Canadians from fourth to a medal.
— Edmonton's Tara Whitten fourth in the omnium. The track cycling team aimed for two medals but got one.
— Multi-medal triathlete Simon Whitfield crashes spectacularly early on the bike. The former Olympic champ may have been a longshot for a medal, but the 37-year-old wasn't able to find out what he had in the tank.
— A head injury in June was a major hitch in diver Alex Despatie's preparation for men's springboard. The two-time silver medallist finishes 11th.
_ The women's basketball team gets hammered 91-48 by defending champion U.S. in a quarter-final.
Grade: B-minus.
Canada's best medal chances Wednesday are kayaker Adam Van Koeverden and wrestler Carol Huynh.
