NORTH NOEL ROAD: The Kennetcook Kid will fight for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Exactly what colour he will be bringing home is yet to be determined.
With a crowd of 500 strong at the Amphitheatre at Findley Park in North Noel Road cheering him on, Kennetcook’s Wyatt Sanford adjusted to his opponents style and came out flying in the third round to secure the split decision thousands of miles away.
Sanford appeared to be slow out of the gate, and that had the judges giving the first round to his Uzbekistan opponent Ruslan Abdullaev in the quarterfinals of the men’s 63.5-kg division in Paris.
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Sanford’s win means he will battle a yet to be determined opponent Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. Atlantic in the semi-final.
Win or lose, he has guaranteed Canada and himself an Olympic bronze medal at the very least. There are two bronze medals awarded to the semi-final losers.
It will Canada’s first Olympic bronze medal since 1996.
Sanford came out looking better in the third round and took it to his opponent to come away with the 4-1 win.
As it was such a close match, every jab that Sanford landed the crowd cheered along.
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As they were awaiting the decision of the judges following the completion of the three rounds of three minutes each, there were some supporters with hands to their faces and others sitting on the edge of their chairs.
As well, there were a couple of people spotted with hands over their faces.
When the announcer said the decision was in favour of Sanford, the crowd erupted into cheers and sighs of relief. Supporters even hugged and slightly danced for brief seconds as well.
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Sanford spoke to the Canadian Olympic Committee after his win.
“I’m on top of the world,” exclaimed an ecstatic Sanford.
“We’re finally after 28 years of a drought, we’re bringing a medal home to Canada.
“But I know Canada wants the gold and I want to give it to them.
“So two more wins and we can do it.”
The crowd will be there to cheer him on at Findley Park, and organizers expect it to only grow more.
Municipality of East Hants Warden Eleanor Roulston; councillor Keith Rhyno; MP Kody Blois; and MLA John A. MacDonald were all in attendance (at least the ones we saw).
