Heather Bansley, the London, Ont. born beach volleyball star ready for third Olympic Games

Beach Volleyball is home to one of the most stunning views at the Paris Olympics.

"The beach volleyball venue is right in front of the Eiffel Tower, it looks incredible,” said Heather Bansley, a member of Team Canada. “We always get such a good turnout for beach volleyball at the Olympic Games and it's so fun. The atmosphere is just electric."

Bansley, the London, Ont.-born star has qualified for her third Olympics. The Waterdown, Ont. resident came out of retirement to partner with Sophie Bukovec and won a last-chance qualifier in late June 2024 to book a ticket to Paris.

They won a final in Mexico, in a former bull ring, against the home country team and their fans.

When they secured the final point, Bansley, and Bukovec dropped to their knees, hugged and shared tears of joy.

“The past 11 months of our training for me coming back into the sport, partnering up with Sophie it was just immense happiness,” said Bansley. “It was such a wild ride and we actually accomplished it, so it was really special. This will be Sophie's first Olympic Games, and exactly in that moment, I was feeling happy for myself, but just more elated for her that she gets to achieve her goal.”

The win also helped Bansley make history. This will be her third Olympics after finishing fifth in Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2020). She’s now reached the games with three different partners.

“I am the first female in beach volleyball to do that for Canada,” said Bansley. “It’s pretty cool and I owe a lot to my teammates in the past and currently.”

In her previous two games, she reached the quarterfinal round, but could not advance to the semifinals.

This time, as a newly formed team and not having accumulated ranking points, they come into the games as the 23rd seed.

It will mean a very difficult draw in Pool B against USA (#2), China (#20) and Australia (#26).

Bansley believes the ranking is only a number, “We’re just going to take every match one at a time and from there hopefully to move on to the playoff round.”

She’s come out of retirement to compete to reinvigorate her love for the sport, but isn’t looking past these games.

“I'm not in any rush to make a decision [about her future] but I'm certainly enjoying myself, and I'm so glad to have come back into the sport,” said Bansley.

Her competition schedule will begin on July 27.