Canadians Brandie Wilkerson, 32, and Melissa Humana-Paredes, 31, won the Olympic silver medal in women’s beach volleyball at the 2024 Paris Games on Friday. The duo made history in qualifying for the match — no Canadian women’s or men’s duo has ever qualified for the Olympic gold contest in volleyball before. Canada’s women’s team in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics placed fifth. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes, both from Toronto, faced off against Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa of Brazil in a closely matched game. The Brazilians going into the match were ranked the top team in the world. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes ranked seventh. .Canada started strong in the first set, but Brazil caught up and the two teams exchanged match point opportunities until the first set went 26-24 to Brazil. Each set goes to 21 points, but the winning team must win by two points. Otherwise, game action continues.The second set was as closely matched as the latter half of the first, but Canada dominated hard by the end of it, finishing the set 21-12. Canada started out behind in the third set, which only goes to 15 points, and chased the Brazilians in a back and forth set until Ramos and Lisboa finished it 15-10.The match made Olympic history as the only one to go to three sets..The Canadian team qualified for the gold medal round just barely, having won in the lucky-loser round earlier in Paris. Then they plowed forward and eliminated their opponents all the way to the gold medal round, beating Australia, Spain and finally Switzerland in the semifinals.Canada now has 24 medals, including seven gold, six silver and 11 bronze. The most Canada has ever won is 27 — with two and a half days of competition left in the 2024 Olympics, Canada is on track to make its all-time record.
Canadians Brandie Wilkerson, 32, and Melissa Humana-Paredes, 31, won the Olympic silver medal in women’s beach volleyball at the 2024 Paris Games on Friday. The duo made history in qualifying for the match — no Canadian women’s or men’s duo has ever qualified for the Olympic gold contest in volleyball before. Canada’s women’s team in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics placed fifth. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes, both from Toronto, faced off against Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa of Brazil in a closely matched game. The Brazilians going into the match were ranked the top team in the world. Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes ranked seventh. .Canada started strong in the first set, but Brazil caught up and the two teams exchanged match point opportunities until the first set went 26-24 to Brazil. Each set goes to 21 points, but the winning team must win by two points. Otherwise, game action continues.The second set was as closely matched as the latter half of the first, but Canada dominated hard by the end of it, finishing the set 21-12. Canada started out behind in the third set, which only goes to 15 points, and chased the Brazilians in a back and forth set until Ramos and Lisboa finished it 15-10.The match made Olympic history as the only one to go to three sets..The Canadian team qualified for the gold medal round just barely, having won in the lucky-loser round earlier in Paris. Then they plowed forward and eliminated their opponents all the way to the gold medal round, beating Australia, Spain and finally Switzerland in the semifinals.Canada now has 24 medals, including seven gold, six silver and 11 bronze. The most Canada has ever won is 27 — with two and a half days of competition left in the 2024 Olympics, Canada is on track to make its all-time record.
