Canadian beach volleyball duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson have won silver in the women’s final in the Paris Olympics.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, both from Toronto,
played the final against Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos (Duda) Lisboa on Aug. 8.
The Canadian team fell in the opening set 26–24; however, they were able to beat back the Brazilians, winning the second set 21–12.
In the third set, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson fought hard but lost the set 15–10.
It was the first time that a Canadian women’s team has made it to the Olympic podium in the competition.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson participated in the 2021 Tokyo Games with different partners. They tied for fifth place during those Olympics.
The duo are former
teammates from York University where they both also completed communications studies.
During the sets against Brazil, the Canadians had an 8–2 lead. The Brazilians fought back, closing the lead to five at 13–8 and eventually taking it.
The second set also started well for the Canadian team, with an 11–10 lead. They pushed the gap further to 18–11, finally winning the set.
Brazil got a good start in the third set, with a 10–6 lead, and Canada was not able to pull ahead, ultimately placing second in the competition.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson earned Canada’s place in the game by beating back the Swiss team on Aug. 8, winning two out of the three sets (14–21, 22–20, 15–12).
It has been 28 years since Canadian athletes have
won a medal in the beach volleyball competition. Canada’s only other Olympic podium appearance came in 1996 when John Child and Mark Heese won bronze at the Atlanta Games.
The 2024 Olympics are the
second international games for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, but the first time they’ve competed as a duo.
In October 2022, the athletes paired up and
debuted on the Beach Pro Tour in February 2023. They won silver in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, where they
served as the flag bearers for Team Canada in the games’ opening ceremonies.
Humana-Paredes
started playing volleyball at 12 years old. Her father coached Atlanta bronze medallists Child and Heese.
Her brother was a
national team athlete in beach volleyball.
Wilkerson
started playing indoor volleyball at the age of 17. She was inspired to try beach volleyball after watching Canadian teams compete in 2012 in London. She entered her first international beach volleyball event at 22 years old.
Her father
played pro basketball in Japan and Switzerland and was drafted by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Her mother is an endurance runner and has completed several Ironman races.
The Canadian Press contributed to this article.
