TORONTO — Two-time Olympian Sarah Pavan will team up with world silver medallist Sophie Bukovec in a quest for a medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Melissa Humana-Paredes will play with Brandie Wilkerson.
Pavan and Humana-Paredes, who won the world title in 2019, announced in August they were splitting up after five years together.
"We are thrilled to see these top athletes, who have worked so hard at the highest level and know what it takes to reach the podium, form new teams as the world looks ahead to Paris 2024," Volleyball Canada president and CEO Mark Eckert said in a statement. "It will be very exciting to watch."
Pavan, from Kitchener, Ont., and Toronto's Humana-Paredes also captured their second Commonwealth Games gold medal this past summer in Birmingham, England, and have climbed the World Tour podium numerous times. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals at last year's Tokyo Olympics.
Toronto's Wilkerson finished fifth in Tokyo with previous partner Heather Bansley and won silver with Bukovec, from Toronto, at the 2022 world championships.
Countries can send only two teams per gender to the Games. The Olympic ranking qualification period for the Paris Games runs from Jan. 1, 2023 to June 9, 2024, with the best 12 events per team counting toward ranking.
The winner of the 2023 world championships earn an automatic Olympic berth.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2022.
The Canadian Press
