Page 124 - 2020

GAMES FOR ALL
The Canada Games has long prided itself on being more progressive than other sports associations. On February 18, 2019, the organization announced it would allow athletes to compete as their identified gender. Its new policy states the organization recognizes that "sex and gender are not the same thing," and that it aims to create "a safe and welcoming environment for transgender or intersex participants at the Canada Games."
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O Q<Y
A RECORD-SEniNG WIN
On June 13, 2019, the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the
NBA playoffs, winning their first championship in the team's 24-season history. The Raptors became the first Canadian team to win an NBA title, as well as the first sports team in the country to win a major league championship since the Toronto Blue Jays won two World Series back to back in 1992 and 1993. Fans immediately took to the streets in celebration, and a parade held in the team's honour afew days later drew, by some estimates, two million fans.
Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu had a breakout year in 2019. She quickly rose through the ranksof the Women'sTennis Association, finishing runner-up at the Auckland Open, reaching the second round of the Australian Open, and winning a WTA 125K title at the Oracle Challenger Series in Newport Beach. On October 21 , 2019, she became the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour. But her crowning achievement came on September 7, when she won her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open by defeating Serena Williams, making Andreescu the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title and the No. 5 ranked player in the world. Andreescu also became the first tennis player to win the Lou Marsh Trophy, an award given annually by a panel of Canadian sportswriters to the perso.ndeemed Canada's top athlete.
RUSSIA BANNED FROM OLYMPICS
Russia's collection of Olympic medals is second only to the United States'. There's one area, however, where Russia has the U.S. beat: a record 43 medals stripped due to doping. On December 9, 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency decided it had had enough and banned Russia from the all international sports competition, including the Olympics, for four years. (Russia previously was banned from the 2018 Games.) This means the country can't compete in either the 2020 Tokyo Games or the Winter Games
in Beijing in 2022.