After claiming gold at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tlaxcala, Mexico this past weekend, Varsity Blues women's volleyball alumna Heather Bansley and her partner Sophie Bukovec secured their spot at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

"I'm just really proud; we came here with the goal of qualifying for Paris and we accomplished just that," said Bansley. "It's been a crazy 11 months for our team and it's incredible that we were able to qualify. I'm so proud of Sophie… If you asked me a year ago if we would be here, it was probably a crazy dream. It's incredible."

On the sand with a new partner in Bukovec, the two went undefeated throughout the entirety of the qualification tournament. Bansley and Bukovec ended the event winning the gold medal match versus Mexico by a final score of 2-0 (21-16, 21-17).

The 2024 Paris Games marks the third Olympics for Bansley. She previously competed at the 2020 Tokyo Games and the 2016 Rio Games with partner Brandie Wilkerson. The pair placed fifth overall at both international showcases.

Bansley and Bukovec were No. 20 in the world rankings ahead of this past weekends event. They will join the duo of Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes  who previously qualified based on a Top 5 world ranking, giving Canada two teams in the field of competitors in Paris this summer.

Bansley has been a dominant player throughout her career on the FIVB beach volleyball world tour, winning the world's best defender honours three times (2018, 2016, 2015). In 2018, she and her partner Brandie Wilkerson were ranked the No. 1 team in the world.