Canada struck gold in males’s and girls’s seaside volleyball on Sunday — together with some continental participant passes to the 2024 Paris 2024 Olympic Video games.
The boys’s and girls’s groups claimed high spot within the NORCECA Seaside Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Match in Mexico.
Heather Bansley of Waterdown, Ont., and Sophie Bukovec of Toronto, who’ve been taking part in collectively for just below a yr, have been undefeated within the event and gained the ladies’s gold.
In Sunday’s ultimate, Bansley and Bukovec beat Atenas Gutierrez and Susana Torres of Mexico 2-0 (21-16, 21-17).
This can be Bansley’s third Olympics (2016, 2020), however now with new taking part in companion and first-timer Bukovec.
“I’m simply actually proud. We got here right here with the purpose of qualifying for Paris and we achieved simply that,” stated Bansley.
“It’s been a loopy 11 months for our workforce and it’s unbelievable that we have been in a position to qualify. I’m so pleased with Sophie. … When you requested me a yr in the past if we might be right here, it was most likely a loopy dream. It’s unbelievable.”
Samuel Schachter of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Daniel Dearing of Toronto defeated Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Ricardo Galindo 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) in Sunday’s gold-medal ultimate.
“We performed with plenty of pleasure at the moment, I really loved the sport,” stated Schachter. “We have been within the second. … This was a workforce win, and we had a lot assist.
“As we speak, we have been actually in a position to give attention to the fitting issues and have been in a position to handle the second. I can’t wait to symbolize our nation.”
Schachter beforehand performed in 2016 in Rio with then-beach companion Josh Binstock. Although Dearing can be an Olympic newcomer, he’s a Commonwealth Video games silver medallist with Schachter.
Three seaside groups are actually certified for Canada. Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson had already secured a berth through their stable place within the ladies’s World Rankings. The seaside groups can be formally a part of Group Canada when nominated and introduced by the Canadian Olympic Committee (official workforce announcement nonetheless to return).
