How a game of musical chairs led Canada's Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson to the Olympic podium
Beach volleyball duo came together 2 years ago, claimed silver medal in Paris
It was a game of beach volleyball musical chairs.
And Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson landed the silver seats.
The Canadian duo joined forces two years ago amid a major shuffle in team pairings across the country's elite players.
On Friday, on the sand amid an idyllic Parisian scene in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, they won an Olympic silver medal together.
"In the back of everybody's mind, even people who are just kind of spectators of the sport, they were always thinking, Brandie and Mel, they seem so compatible. They kind of approach the game the same way," said Mark Heese, whose bronze medal with partner John Child in 1996 was previously Canada's only in the sport.
WATCH | Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson win silver medal:
The decision for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson to team up was at once difficult yet easy.
Humana-Paredes was a world champion with ex-partner Sarah Pavan, and the twosome entered Tokyo 2020 ranked No. 1 in the world.
And so Humana-Paredes turned to her former York University teammate, Wilkerson, who'd spent the previous Olympic cycle alongside Heather Bansley and ended it in the same place with a quarterfinal loss in Tokyo.
Now they've reached the Olympic podium together. But Humana-Paredes, the 31-year-old from Toronto, said she always believed it could happen.
"I envisioned playing with Brandie a long time before playing with her. I don't think it was a matter of if I was going to play with Brandie, it was just a matter of when. It was all about the timing. We had a really good amount of respect of each other's careers," Humana-Paredes said.
"It was not lost on me that we could create some magic together, so I'm not surprised."
WATCH | Canadian duo discusses medal performance:
Heese, who was coached by Humana-Paredes' father, Hernan Humana, in Atlanta, said the silver medallists always held onto the idea of playing together.
But the decision was a risk for Beach Volleyball Canada, which essentially went from having two strong teams in Tokyo to one legitimate medal contender in Paris.
In the end, Pavan found herself without a chair while Bansley wound up with Sophie Bukovec, a duo that reached the Olympics but did not advance past the group stage.
"But maybe that's the sacrifice you need to make. Two very good teams, we got two fifths in the [Tokyo] Olympics. One amazing team, they got it done [in Paris]," Heese said.
Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, the 32-year-old from Toronto, dropped a testy three-set gold-medal match against the top-ranked Brazilian duo of Ana Patricia and Duda.
At one point, in an unlikely beach volleyball scene, the two teams began jawing at each other from opposite sides of the net — only for the tension to be cut by a timely music choice of John Lennon's Imagine.
"You don't usually see that, that's for sure," Heese said. "But stakes are high, emotions are high. And I saw how it happened, how it played out. I was loving it. I thought, yeah, things are getting interesting now."
WATCH | Wilkerson explains tension in championship match:
In Paris, the Canadians were forced to rely on their long-standing chemistry after dropping two of their three group-stage matches and being sent to the lucky loser round.
That's when they seemed to establish a winning formula, going on to knock off the second-rank American duo of Nuss and Kloth in the quarterfinals en route to the podium.
"If they weren't so tight and like sisters out there and approach the game with that holistic view of what partners and what teammates really are, I think it would have been over after pool play, right?" Heese said.
In the immediate aftermath of their silver medal, it is unclear what the future holds for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson. The next big tournament is the world championships in November 2025 in Adelaide, Australia, and after just two years of runway leading to Paris, there's another full quadrennial before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"I'm sure they're thinking that they got more to give and I'm sure they're considering another run to L.A. Playing beach volleyball at the beaches of California as your kind of swan song, that's pretty attractive," Heese said.
The medal could also have a larger effect — just the way Heese and Child's did in 1996 when they attracted a pro tour to Canada for a few years. Beach volleyball should also receive increased public attention and corporate recognition after those back home watched Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson show what is possible.
"For now, we'll take this silver medal with us with our heads held high because it's going to make a difference and have ripple effects in Canada to know that we are one of the best in the world in this sport," Wilkerson said.
