Canada will play for gold medal in beach volleyball at Paris Olympics

Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes have already made Canadian women’s beach volleyball history at the Paris Olympics.

Now they have a chance to cap the Games in style.

The Toronto duo secured a berth in the gold-medal game with a thrilling 14-21, 22-20, 15-12 semifinal win over Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner of Switzerland on Thursday. The Canadians saved a match ball in the second set before completing the comeback in the decider when a Swiss return sailed long.

“We will not give up,” Wilkerson said. “We have heart and we have belief in each other. I think that’s what matters here.”

The seventh-ranked Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson became the first Canadian women’s duo to reach the Olympic semifinals and are now the first Canadian pair – women or men – to play for gold at the Games.

“We still have one more day and one more game – we’re not losing sight of that – but it feels really great to secure a medal for Canada,” said Humana-Paredes.

“We know the colour that we want but we have this together forever and we hope Canada is proud of that.”

Australia’s Mariafe Artacho de Solar and Taliqua Clancy were to meet the top-ranked Brazilian duo of Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa in the other semifinal later Thursday.

Medal games were scheduled for Friday at Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes faced adversity early in this competition when a 1-2 start in pool play nearly derailed their plans. Qualification in the round of 16 came after a win in the lucky-loser round.

That was followed by an upset victory over Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S. and then a tight 21-18, 21-18 quarterfinal decision over Spain’s Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva.

The Canadians have won the big points when they mattered this week. Wilkerson remains a force at the net and Humana-Paredes has been at her crafty best, showing strong play up front while digging out balls in the back.

Their Swiss opponents hadn’t dropped a set in Paris until Thursday, reeling off five straight 2-0 wins. A Wilkerson block on match ball was followed by two Swiss errors that forced a third set.

“When you’re really getting pinned, Mel and I are good at sticking together and responding,” Wilkerson said. “That’s how we got ourselves into this position.

“That opportunity was no different from when we were in (the) lucky loser (match) and had to make it into this (part of the) tournament.”

The Canadians were buoyed by the comeback as the vocal sellout crowd cheered them on. The Swiss pair seemed rattled and never quite regained their traction.

“To lose the second set was hard (on) the mind for the third set,” Brunner said. “I think they really took that chance to go in front and then maybe they had a little bit more breath in the end.”

After clinching the win over the ninth-ranked side, an exuberant Humana-Paredes ran around the side of the court before falling to the sand to embrace her partner.

“I was just full of energy that needed to get let out,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of pride in what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done over the last two weeks.

“We’ve experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”

The tough start in pool play led to a “little bit of impostor syndrome,” Humana-Paredes said. Wilkerson added she had some emotions creep in at times too, including before the semifinal.

“We had to go through the crap to be able to get through to where we are,” Humana-Paredes said. “I think that served us so well.”

Frank, pure and honest conversations helped too. The belief in each other has always been strong, they both said afterward.

The years of experience – with big losses and big wins along the way – have also been beneficial.

“When adversity showed up again, it was a familiar face,” Wilkerson said. “But it’s someone that you make friends with, appreciate and thank later because it’s the only way to go up. It’s to overcome those challenges.”

Canada’s best previous Olympic result in women’s beach volleyball was a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes shared the position after quarterfinal losses with different partners.

Canada’s lone podium appearance came at the 1996 Games when Mark Heese and John Child took men’s bronze in Atlanta.

“The game actually can be quite easy if you let it,” Humana-Parades said. “You don’t have to overcomplicate it and overthink it.

“I think that’s where we went wrong earlier in the tournament and now we’re just trying to bring it back to basics.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2024.