It’s a rivalry made famous by the film Murderball: The Americans vs. the Canadians.
The US had less success against Canada on the basketball court, but, according to the NY Times’ Rings blog, American quad rugby players tasted sweet revenge for their defeat in Athens in 2004 against their counterparts from the north. Unfortunately, it ain’t over yet: as blogger Jeff Klein notes, “a medal-round rematch seems inevitable.”
WHEELCHAIR RUGBY: In a meeting of the sport’s two greatest rivals, the U.S. team beat Canada, 37-32, to gain some measure of revenge for their loss in the 2004 Paralympic semifinal.
The Americans’ victory before a packed house at the University of Science and Technology of Beijing Gymnasium left them undefeated after group-stage play and put them into a Monday semifinal against Britain.
“We knew coming into this game it was going to be a great battle,” U.S. head coach James Gumbert said. “We had great transition in between the whistles and our guys came out with the most energy they’ve had so far in this tournament.”
The first quarter ended in an 11-11 tie, but strong pressure defense from the U.S. enabled the Amerks to take a 24-21 lead into halftime. Canada tried to stall the U.S. momentum after the break, holding the ball for the first 4:18 of the third quarter before finally scoring a goal.
But keyed by two big turnovers late in the third, the U.S. headed into the final eight minutes with a five-goal lead and never let Canada any closer. Team USA’s offense was led by Will Groulx and Joel Wilmoth, with seven goals each.
