Toronto-based beach volleyball team Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are advancing to the gold medal match after a series of nail-biting matches throughout the Paris Olympics. The duo may have only just formed a partnership in 2022, but the duo is clearly bringing the heat — up against the previously undefeated Swiss team on Thursday, they came back from a match point in the second set and won the semifinals, earning the pair a guaranteed medal.
They’ve also already made history — no matter how the match goes on Friday, it will be the best-ever finish for a Canadian volleyball team. The country has only won one medal in the sport in Olympic history, when John Child and Mark Heese won bronze at the 1996 Olympics.
It’s an extra-sweet Olympic story for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who both competed in the Tokyo Olympics and made it to the quarterfinals — but on different teams.
When they decided to pair up in 2022, it was shared history that went beyond being at the same Olympics; the Toronto athletes were previously teammates on York University’s indoor volleyball team a decade ago.
The duo are clearly going into the Friday match with a shared driven attitude, one that has taken them through the competition so far. “We will not give up. We have heart and we have belief in each other and that’s what matters here,” Humana-Paredes told the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Read on for Humana-Paredes’ interview with Streets of Toronto heading into the Olympics.
When Melissa Humana-Paredes takes to the sand for her first match in the 2024 Paris Olympics next week, she’ll do so with one goal in mind: to make history for Canada.
The beach volleyball player has already done so, of course — during her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, she matched Canada’s best women’s beach volleyball result in history by making it to the quarterfinals, and in 2019, she made history with her then-teammate Sarah Pavan as Canada’s first ever world champions in volleyball.
But this Olympic run will be different, for a few key reasons: she hasn’t been training and competing in the middle of a pandemic this time around, for example. And this time, she has a new, old teammate — Brandie Wilkerson, her former teammate from her days at York University.
“It’s been such a heart-warming and eye-opening experience,” Humana-Parades says of reuniting with her university pal. “There are moments where we’ve had to confront who we were back in university to see how far we both have evolved as athletes and women, both hilarious and uncomfortable. But underneath it all, there was a foundation of love and admiration we both have for each other, so it’s been a rewarding experience.”
Their paths previously converged back at the Tokyo Olympics, where Wilkerson was competing with her then-teammate Heather Bansley and also made it to the quarterfinals.
Hometown: Toronto
Sport: Beach volleyball
Olympic event date: First game, July 29
Social feeds: Instagram
Favourite Toronto memory: Weekends at Ashbridges Bay
Favourite place in the city: Roncesvalles
Favourite local athlete: Brandie Wilkerson
In 2022, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes announced they would be forming a partnership — and quickly began racking up accolades, from an Elite 16 gold medal to a silver medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, where they were Team Canada’s opening ceremony flag bearers.
Now, they’re heading into the 2024 Olympics with a FIVB fourth place world ranking. There’s high hopes for this made-in-Toronto duo.
For Humana-Paredes, she credits her involvement in the sport to her dad and the volleyball community in Toronto. “He played indoor volleyball in Chile for the National Team — my mom was in the National Folkloric Ballet. Sadly for my mom who tried to get me into ballet, I gravitated towards volleyball!”
She says that her dad immersed himself in the volleyball community in the city when he first immigrated to Canada, eventually leading him to coach Mark Heese and John Child to a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics — Canada’s only medal in the sport, for now.
“I was a toddler when I was exposed to the sport, so it’s always been around me. It’s a tight-knit community so being at the beach felt very familiar and warm to me,” Humana-Paredes notes.
She recalls spending weekends at Ashbridges Bay growing up, both playing and watching tournaments. “I was constantly at the beach! For a couple summers there, I even worked at the beach setting up nets and lines the day before each tournament,” she says. “It’s where I learned how to play my sport, so even going back there now, it always fills my heart.”
Going into her second Olympics, Humana-Paredes is ready for a different experience. “Heading to Paris feels very freeing and clear — it’s going to be a huge celebration of sport and unity, the Olympics you dream of as a kid,” she says.
And as someone who switched partners years into her career, she also knows that you’re always learning. “I’ve been playing this sport for more than half my life and I still feel like I’m mastering the same skills I was working on when I was 15, but in different ways. It tests me daily,” she says. But I’ve learned that it’s the people you surround yourself with that make the journey worthwhile.”
