Canada's Heather Bansley relishing Olympic moment
Will face fellow Canadians in beach volleyball's Round of 16
By Tim Wharnsby, CBC Sports
Four years ago, Heather Bansley missed out on the London Olympics beach volleyball tournament even though she and her partner Liz Maloney played well enough all season long to secure a berth for Canada at the Games.
Bansley and Maloney lost to Marie-Andree Lessard and Annie Martin 17-21, 21-12, 15-10 at the Canadian trials on Ashbridge's Bay in Toronto and were left frustrated because they were the better team throughout the year.
This time around, the 28-year-old Bansley is competing in Rio with new partner Sarah Pavan. Maloney retired in 2013 because of a knee injury and the new Canadian duo has risen through the ranks with Pavan aboard.
They entered the Rio Games ranked fifth and will face fellow Canadians Kristina Valjas and Jamie Broder in the Round of 16.
The Waterdown, Ont.-raised Bansley was a standout with the University of Toronto and began playing beach volleyball eight years ago as part of her off-season conditioning at the suggestion of her U of T coach Kristine Drakich.
The 5-foot-7 Bansley, an English graduate, recently took time for an e-mail exchange as she and Pavan put the final touches for Rio.
Catch us up on how you have been preparing for Rio.
We have been busy competing on our international circuit [FIVB Grand Slams and Major Series events] Since May we've had six tournaments: Cincinnati, Moscow, Hamburg, Olsztyn [Poland], Porec [Croatia], and Gstaad [Switzerland].
We've had a couple days in between tournaments to go home and rest/ prepare for the next tournament, but it has been really busy competing since May. We are now done with all of our competitions before Rio, and have been training in California, our home base and training location, for the two weeks before we headed to Rio for our final two weeks of preparation.
How confident are you and Sarah based on your recent play?
I'm feeling really confident. We've proven that we are a podium team this season and last, and that we can beat everybody on tour. The competition is going to be tough, and all of the teams in the Olympics are strong, but I'm confident that if we continue to play our game we can earn a medal for Canada.
You and Elizabeth helped Canada clinch a spot in the 2012 Olympics, yet you didn't represent the country in London. How did you overcome that disappointment and was it fair?
I still struggle with the concept of it being fair, and there is a lot of debate on how best to decide which team will go. I don't know if there is a perfect selection, and at the end of the day it is what it is.
It was a heartbreaking experience for me to not make it in 2012, especially after proving to be the stronger team all season. However, watching the Olympics from home, I realized that we may not have done any better than Annie & Marie in 2012.
Watching them play well but still not make it out of pool play was a bit uninspiring to me. It made me really reconsider my goal of going to the Olympics. I realized that just making it to the Olympics wasn't enough. I wanted to go to the Olympics and represent Canada well, to win a medal for our country. It was this mindset that really shaped my approach to forming a team and training the past four years.
You're known for finding a lucky bathing suit. Have you been happy with one this year and will you be allowed to wear it in Rio or do you have to don a Canadian Olympic team one?
HB: I usually find a lucky bathing suit tournament to tournament! If there is one colour that we are winning in, we will try to continue to wear that colour. Or if we haven't done well in a certain colour, I will try to avoid it. For Rio we will have custom suits for our competition, with new Olympic colours, which I'm really excited and proud to wear!