VIS Mentor Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson’s historic Olympic debut together secured Canada’s first ever medal in women’s beach volleyball. Under pressure from the start, the duo’s performance shows that sometimes, all you need is confidence and trust to overcome adversity.
New Partner, Same Plan
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes’ relationship goes all the way back to their time playing indoor volleyball at York University. After graduating, they went their separate ways with different partners to represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. Both Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes advanced to the quarter finals with their respective partners, marking it as Canada’s best finish in women’s beach volleyball.
Later in October 2022, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes announced their new partnership with the goal to return to the Olympics and make history. Success followed the duo in 2023 with a silver medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, which Wilkerson considered “just a glimpse of what we can do.”
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes’ success as a team can be credited to building off of their pre-existing relationship. “[Building the relationship] has to be approached in a very dynamic way because there’s so many aspects to our partnership and to the sport,” Wilkerson told Team Canada. “You have a physical connection because you are on the sand together, you’re running plays together, you have to understand strategically what’s going on. And then there’s also the mental and emotional sides where you need to have good communication and you have to respect each other. We are each other’s number one fan.”
This was evident in Paris. Despite finishing 1-2 in the preliminary phase, and having to play a lucky losers match to continue on, the trust and confidence of the duo never faltered. Instead, the pair thrived under pressure, winning the title of lucky losers and coming back to win four straight games. “When our backs are against the wall, when you’re really getting pinned, Mel and I are good at sticking together and responding. And that’s how we got ourselves into this position.” Wilkerson said in an interview. “We have reasons to back ourselves, reasons to believe that the game is never over until it’s over and to prove it, is probably why it’s just absolutely like, so fulfilling. It’s so rewarding to make yourself proud.”
“We have reasons to back ourselves, reasons to believe that the game is never over until it’s over and to prove it…it’s so rewarding to make yourself proud.”
Comeback Kids
Time and time again, the Canadian pair has proven that you can’t count them out just yet. In the semifinal match against Switzerland, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes lost the first set only to come back and win the next two to send them to the gold medal match. Drawing from their shaky start, Wilkerson considered the adversity the pair faced as “a familiar face but [also] it’s someone that you make friends with and appreciate and thank later.”
Their experience would serve them well, as they faced a similar situation in the first set of the gold medal match. Losing 26-24 to Brazilians Ana Patrícia Ramos and Duda Lisboa, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes bounced back for a 21-12 win. While the Canadians fell short in the third set, the first time an Olympic beach volleyball gold medal match would go three sets, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes achieved a remarkable feat, claiming Canada's first ever medal for women’s beach volleyball.
Own It
For Wilkerson, playing in Paris meant more than just winning a medal. "No matter the result of my Olympic appearance, one of my foremost goals was to expand people's minds to see diversity in background, talent, physical height, and character through the sport of beach volleyball,” Wilkerson said on the Peacock livestream. And while the results may not have been what the Canadians were looking for, Humana-Paredes told The Canadian Press that she takes pride in their underdog run by “[showing] a lot of people what's possible” and “what just pure heart and grit and the intangibles of sport means."
Physical talent plays a large role in athletic success. But just like Humana-Paredes said, it’s the intangibles, like fostering strong teamwork and being confident in your game, that will help you overcome adversity.
