Two-time Olympian Heather Bansley retires from competitive beach volleyball

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TORONTO – Two-time Olympian Heather Bansley is retiring from beach volleyball and entering the coaching ranks.

Bansley and partner Brandie Wilkerson made it to the quarterfinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before losing to the Latvian team of Anastasija Kravcenoka and Tina Graudina.

They had their most successful season as a tandem in 2018, when they earned three gold medals on the FIVB World Tour and rose to the world No. 1 ranking.

She teamed with Sarah Pavan at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where they advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual gold medalists Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany.

Bansley, 34, is joining the Canadian coaching staff of Volleyball Canada’s NextGen program.

“I’m going to miss training every day,” Bansley said in a release. “I am an athlete who loved training. I will really miss having the opportunity to train around the world on some amazing beaches.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2022.

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