Santo Domingo — Clara Hughes did not let Thursday's rain delays at the Pan Am Games keep her from adding another medal to her already overflowing trophy case, and the Canadian men's softball team won its seventh straight gold.
Hughes won a gold medal in the points race in cycling to complete her set after collecting a silver in the time trial and a bronze in the individual pursuit earlier in the Games.
The 30-year-old Winnipegger, who now makes her home in Glen Sutton, Que., won an Olympic bronze medal in speed skating in Salt Lake City last year after winning two bronze in cycling at the 1996 Games in Atlanta to become the first Canadian to win Olympic medals at both summer and winter Games.
"I always give those (medals) to my mom in Winnipeg, and she'll add it to the collection,' Hughes said.
Thursday's points race was delayed four hours at the outdoor velodrome owing to torrential rain that plagued other events involving Canadian teams.
The conditions forced the postponement of the women's soccer final between Canada and Brazil until Friday morning due to a waterlogged pitch.
In the points race, riders are awarded points for their finish on laps. Hughes scored 40 points followed by Maria Molina of Guatemala with 29 and Yoanka Gonzales of Cuba with 26.
Hughes said the points race is actually her least favourite of the cycling events.
"It's really incredible to think that this is my fourth Pan Am Games, and I've won so many medals at all the Pan Am Games, except the Winnipeg games, but I've never won a gold medal so it's really special," Hughes said. "I'm so happy the race is over and I hope I never have to do one again, but at the same time I'm really satisfied with it."
The women's soccer final was suspended in the 24th minute after a steady downpour flooded large portions of the field. The score was tied 0-0.
"It was the right decision by the referee," Canadian coach Ian Bridge said.
The men's and women's softball finals were delayed into the night due to swampy field conditions. The Canadian men won the gold with a 4-2 victory over the United States, while the Canadian women were shut out 4-0 by the Americans.
The men went undefeated through the tournament.
"We just knew if we played to our ability, we were the best team here," centre-fielder Rob Giesbrecht said. "Some people outside of this doubted that. We proved to them we're the best team here."
A third athlete tested positive for drugs at these Games.
Argentine rower Ulf Lienhard was stripped of the silver and bronze medals he won in quadruple sculls and men's doubles for testing positive for cocaine.
Pan American Sports Organization president Mario Vazquez Rana said he was particularly irritated that cocaine had been used.
"Anything other than cocaine would be more pardonable," he said.
Canada won 11 medals on Thursday, including three gold, five silver and three bronze.
With 98 medals, Canada trailed third-place Brazil by one in the table. The United States continued to pad its lead, with 217 medals, followed by Cuba with 128.
The badminton players kicked off the medal haul, taking gold and silver women's doubles as Charmaine Reid of Calgary and Helen Nichol of Burlington, Ont., defeated Denyse Julien of Calgary and Anna Rice of Vancouver 15-13, 15-10 in an all-Canadian final.
Mike Beres, Mount Pleasant, Ont., and Kyle Hunter, Paris, Ont., won a bronze medal in men's doubles.
The Canadian men's inline hockey team fell 13-7 to the United States in the gold-medal match and had to find solace in silver. Canada was stripped of the gold in 1999 after goaltender Steve Vezina tested positive for steroids and stimulants and the players on this team were hoping to replace that Pan Am memory with a happier one.
"In my heart I still won that gold medal in 1999, but it would have been nice to have another one," captain Hugo Belanger said.
In the pool, Canadians picked up three medals. Audrey Lacroix of Pont-Rouge, Que., won a silver in the women's 100-metre butterfly. Kathleen Stoody of Vancouver won her second bronze of the Games, finishing third in the 200-breaststroke.
The Canadian men's 4x100 relay team won bronze. That foursome included Colin Russell of Barrie, Ont., Brian Edey of Edmonton, Matthew Rose of Lindsay, Ont., and Chad Murray of Lethbridge, Alta.
Fanny Letourneau of Deux-Montagnes, Que., and Courtney Stewart of Unionville, Ont., earned a silver medal in the synchronized swimming duet. Letourneau felt they deserved better.
"I'm a very competitive person and I'm not pleased with the final result," Letourneau said. "We felt our performance tonight was technically and artistically very strong."
The Canadian equestrian team of Ian Millar of Perth, Ont., Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, Ont., Mark Samuel of Toronto and Karen Cudmore of Victoria finished sixth overall in the team event.
The Pan Ams were an Olympic qualifier with the medallists earning berths for their countries to Athens next year. Canada will not field an equestrian team in the Olympic Games for the first time since 1968, but there is a quota spot available for a rider to represent Canada in the individual competition in Athens.
Saturday's individual jumping competition will go a long way in determining which Canadian rider will be selected. Millar has competed in seven straight Olympic Games.
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