The duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are scripting history at Paris 2024 and are now one match away from winning gold in beach volleyball. Despite going down early in the tournament with a 1-2 start in pool play, they have now assured a medal for Canada, a first for more than 28 years since the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.
“When our backs are against the wall, when you’re getting pinned, Mel and I are good at sticking together and responding. And that’s how we got ourselves into this position.”
After a moment of reflection, Wilkerson continued, “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.” Wilkerson said to Olympic Canada. 
They knocked out a very strong Swiss team in three sets, who came into the semis without losing a single set throughout their entire campaign. Even though the Swiss team won the first set 21-14, they seemed to have no idea what was in store for them when the second set began.
As soon as Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson lost the first set, the prospects for the game looked bleak, but the duo made a comeback of a lifetime and won 22-20 to take it to the final set.
“It’s been a really big challenge the last week and a half to show up at the Olympic Games in front of thousands of people and not play my best volleyball and really kind of grind through that and have it on display for everybody to see and work through it in the moment. The only person there for me is Brandie, and she has been my rock this whole time, and I wouldn’t be here without her.”
Although the Canadians had the momentum, it went neck to neck in the third set, but Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson prevailed by 15-12 to defy all the odds and set up the final with Brazil.
Humana-Paredes said to Olympic Canada,“ I think there’s a lot of pride in what we’ve accomplished and done over the last two weeks. We’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest of lows, and we still have one more day, one more game, and we’re not losing sight of that.”
Tough Road For Paris 2024 Glory
The journey toward the ultimate glory will be hard for the Canadian duo as the Brazilian duo of Ana Patricia and Duda, who are world no.1 at the moment and are the favorite for the gold medal, stand in the way of their victory.
Though the Canadian duo may be ranked world no.7 in the rankings, they have defied expectations at every stage at Paris 2024. The pair beat the strong Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth of the U.S., the Spanish pair Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva in the quarterfinals, and then knocked Switzerland out of the semifinals.
