Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson won the NORCECA Continental Beach Volleyball Olympic qualifier to secure an LA 2028 spot.
The Story
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson won the NORCECA Continental Beach Volleyball Olympic qualifier on Sunday, beating Americans Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft 21-16, 27-25 in the championship final.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, both from Toronto, are the 2024 Olympic silver medallists, representing Canada’s only women’s beach volleyball medal at an Olympic Games. They also competed at Tokyo 2020, with different partners.
Humana-Paredes said, "It feels incredible to have secured something of this magnitude at this point in the season, and in the Olympic qualification process. This tournament was really hard for us, so just winning always feels good and having that extra bonus of qualifying for the Olympics is wonderful. We can go into our off-season knowing that we did great work, and we’ll prepare for the next season."
On the men’s side, Sam Schachter of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Jonny Pickett of Wiarton, Ont., lost their semifinal to Americans Trevor Crabb and Chase Budinger 21-19, 21-18. Canada then won the third-place match over Puerto Rico 21-9, 21-15, but did not secure an Olympic berth.
The U.S. earned the men’s Olympic spot by beating Mexico in the final. A total of 24 teams per gender will compete at LA 2028, with additional qualification still available through the FIVB Olympic Ranking, the 2027 World Championships and the 2028 Olympic Qualifier Series.
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