Canada has had a terrific showing in beach volleyball at the Paris 2024 Olympics, earning themselves a shot at a gold medal.
The duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson have pulled off numerous upsets to get to this point, defeating USA in the round of 16 before knocking off Spain in the quarterfinal. They then pulled off a come-from-behind win over the Swiss team earlier today that punched their ticket to the gold medal final.
“I am proud that [it] came together, but I can’t be here without a partner, without a defender [like Humana-Paredes],” Wilkerson said postgame.
The semi-final was by no means a lock, as Canada faced a match point in the second set. However, they were able to rally back and went on to win the third and final set 15-12.
“There was no way that we were going to let that game finish without putting up a fight,” said Humana-Paredes. “We know that we had more in us, and we just stuck with it.”
Getting to this stage already makes history for Canada, as the nation has never before competed for gold in beach volleyball at the Olympics.
“We’re just coming to terms with the fact that we made history for Canada,” Humana-Paredes said. “We’re bringing back a medal for Canada. We now know the one that we want.”
Not only do they know what colour of medal they want, but they also appear as confident as ever that they can achieve their ultimate goal.
“There’s a lot of work that’s going to go in between now and [the gold medal game],” Humana-Paredes said. “We’re just in a really great position because I think there’s more left in the tank for us. I don’t think we’ve seen our best ball yet, and I think that’s coming tomorrow.”
“I don’t think we’ve seen our best ball yet”
Canadian beach volleyball duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson reflect on their semifinal win and look forward to their gold medal game 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/mVVvArYkfI
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 8, 2024
While they have made it clear they expect gold from themselves, they’ve still had plenty of reason to celebrate, given their success to this point.
The two are currently sitting back to await the result between Brazil and Australia to determine who they will play in the gold medal final. It will take place tomorrow at 4:30 pm ET/1:30 pm PT.
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