Olympics recap: Canada earns first-ever medal in women’s beach volleyball

It was not the outcome they wanted, but it was an incredible finish for Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, who notched a silver medal in the women’s beach volleyball event.

The medal marked the best finish for a Canadian team in the event as they fell in a three-set battle against the top-ranked Brazilian duo of Ana Patrícia Silva Ramos and Eduarda “Duda” Santos Lisboa.

The Canadians made it a tough game from the start by narrowly falling in the first set 26-24.

The second set was all Canada as the duo won 21-12, but they ended up falling 15-10 in the third and final frame.

Volleyball de plage 🏐 : voyez les faits saillants de la finale remportée par le duo Ana Patricia-Duda 🇧🇷 contre Melissa Humana-Paredes et Brandie Wilkerson 🇨🇦.@VBallCanada #Paris2024 #rcsports pic.twitter.com/Dmkc8oWmhK

— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 9, 2024

It is the second-ever medal for Canada in the sport after John Child and Mark Heese won bronze in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Before the women’s beach volleyball final, the Canadians were golden on the track as Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake ran to first place in the men’s 4x100m relay.

🥇Médaille🥇

Les Canadiens filent jusqu’à la victoire au relais 4 x 100 m! Andre De Grasse, Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake et Brendon Rodney sont champions olympiques de cette épreuve! 🔥@KingsleySC@De6rasse@_Jeromeblake@RodneyGetEm@athleticscanada @TeamCanada #Paris2024… pic.twitter.com/JRRc9zeXqP

— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 9, 2024

In what might be the last outing for this quartette, they made sure to leave a lasting impression on Canadian athletics with a time of 37.50 seconds, improving on their silver medal from the prior Olympics.

The win was extra special as none of the Canadians advanced to the individual finals for the men’s 100 and 200-metre events.

The men’s team were immediately greeted on the track by their female teammates, who ran to a sixth-place finish in their 4x100m event after Switzerland was disqualified.

“RIVALRY BETWEEN WHO?!” GOLD FOR THE 4X100M MEN 🇨🇦🥇

—

“RIVALITÉ ENTRE QUI?” MÉDAILLE D’OR POUR LE RELAIS 4X100M HOMMES 🇨🇦🥇

📸: Mark Blinch/COC pic.twitter.com/9Jdv5Rf0ae

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) August 9, 2024

Canada’s third medal came in the women’s C-2 500m event courtesy of Katie Vincent and Sloan MacKenzie, who paddled to third place.

In a photo finish, the Canadians missed second place by 0.06 of a second, while China was nearly two seconds faster and won first place.

Team Canada has tied its highest Summer Olympics medal tally at 24 pieces.