It may not be possible to catch all the best moments in a single day of the Olympic Games—but we’re going to try. Every day, we’ll award titles for standout achievements at (and around) Rio 2016, achievements that may or may not be recognized on the podium (and may or may not even be of an athletic nature).

Here are our picks for Day 5.

Gold medal for winning the heart of an entire dang country goes to…

The Canadian women’s swim team.

Penny Oleksiak, Katerine Savard, Brittany MacLean, and Taylor Ruck had a nation cheering as the four ladies led Canada to a bronze medal in the women’s 4×200-metre freestyle relay. Canada has six medals heading into Day 6 and four of them have gone to members of the Canadian women’s swim team.

Oleksiak in particular is becoming a household name. The 16-year-old swimming sensation has been the story of Rio 2016 so far for Canadian fans, already winning three medals (two bronze in relays and silver in the 200-metre butterfly).

Gold medal for the thing that makes you go ‘wait, what the heck?’ goes to…

Green water.

If you watched any diving events Wednesday, you would have noticed the athletes were plummeting into what looked to be a vat of crème de menthe.

Initially it was thought to be an algae problem, but it turns out the reason the water in the diving pool turned green had to do with pH levels – it also impacted the pool used for water polo and synchronized swimming.

A FINA statement read as follows:

“FINA can confirm that the reason for the unusual water color observed during the Rio diving competitions is that the water tanks ran out of some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process.

“As a result, the pH level of the water was outside the usual range, causing the discoloration. The FINA Sport Medicine Committee conducted tests on the water quality and concluded that there was no risk to the health and safety of the athletes, and no reason for the competition to be affected.”

Gold for best record-breaking performance goes to…

Carmelo Anthony.

Team USA was nearly upset by Australia in men’s basketball, but Anthony’s 31 points – highlighted by nine three-pointers – helped lead them to a 98-88 victory in men’s basketball round robin action.

Melo’s outing was impressive as a standalone performance, but it was significant because he passed LeBron James to move into first place on the United States’ all-time Olympic scoring list. Anthony, who is the first male basketball player to represent the United States in four Olympics, currently sits at 293 career Olympic points and will add to that total when Team USA takes on Serbia Friday.

“Of course I was conscious of [the record],” Anthony told reporters in Brazil after the game. “My teammates was making sure I was aware of the situation, but tonight was one of those nights where I wanted to let the game come to me and take the shots that was given to me, take the open shots and kind of play basketball. At the end of the day I was in my zone, I was playing basketball.”

Gold for putting your body on the line for your sport goes to…

Armenian weightlifter Andranik Karapetyan.

The 20-year-old, competing in the 77-kilogram division, suffered a gruesome injury while attempting to lift 195 kilograms. As he was lifting the barbell over his head his left elbow dislocated. To add insult to injury, Karapetyan was in a position to win a medal when the injury occurred.

I won’t embed a photo or video of this because I like you all too much, but trust me, it was bad.

Gold medal for diving drama goes to…

The Mexico duo of Rommel Pacheco and Jahir Ocampo.

Prior to their final dive in the men’s synchronized three-metre springboard diving event, the Mexicans appeared to be distracted by a light that turned on above them right as they began their dive. After some debating by the judges the pair walked back up to the board for a re-dive. They waited in a state of bewilderment for the thumbs up, however ultimately they were denied a second opportunity.

Up until that dive they had an outside shot at a bronze medal. They ended up finishing fifth. The whole thing was confusing and awkward.

Gold for gusto in a losing effort goes to…

Astou Traore of Team Senegal.

Senegal is 0-3 in the women’s basketball tournament, which isn’t much of a surprise. The country is rated 24th in the world according to the most recent FIBA rankings, but they battled Canada tooth and nail Wednesday with Traore front and centre. The power forward gave the Canadian bigs a tough time, scoring 24 of her team’s 58 points. The 35-year-old, who plays for with Charleville-Mézières in France, had nearly twice as many points as any player on the court.

Gold for fans who think they’ve got a shot at competing in the event they’re watching goes to…

These lads from Australia.

Hey, some people really love water polo.

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(Photo credit: Eduardo Verdugo/AP)
Filed under: rio 2016, sportsnet