Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team named ahead of Paris 2024 Paralympics
Nine of the 12 athletes return from Tokyo 2020.
Twelve athletes were named to Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Monday.
Nine of Canada’s twelve players return from the Tokyo 2020 Games, where Canada finished fourth for its best ever Paralympic finish.
Seven players will be going to their third Paralympic Games – Angelena Dolezar, team captain Danielle Ellis, Jennifer Oakes, Heidi Peters, Felicia Voss-Shafiq, Jolan Wong, and Katelyn Wright — while Anne Fergusson and Julie Kozun will be going to their second.
Allison Lang, Jennifer McCreesh, and Sarah Melenka are the three athletes making their Paralympic debuts in Paris this summer.
“Looking back 10 years ago to laying in a hospital bed, becoming a Paralympian never even crossed my mind, let alone the thought of having it become a reality,” said Melenka in a press release. “Now having the opportunity to represent my country on the biggest stage is truly a dream come true. We’ve battled extremely hard as a team over this last quad. We’ve reached new heights, but also fallen from those heights on occasion. We haven’t let those downfalls define us as a team and are carrying a lot of confidence leading into the Games.
“I can’t wait to wear the maple leaf proudly in my Paralympic debut and represent our country in front of my family, friends, and passionate fans. I look forward to accomplishing the goal my team and I had set at the start of the quad. Let’s bring home some Paralympic hardware!”
After their historic run at the Tokyo Paralympics, Canada won a silver medal at the 2022 world championships – the first time it has reached the podium at worlds. Eleven members of that team will compete in Paris. Canada qualified for Paris 2024 after being the highest finisher not yet qualified for the Paralympics at the 2023 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Cup — reaching the semifinals.
Paris 2024 will be the third consecutive Paralympics in which Canada’s women’s sitting volleyball team competes after first qualifying in 2016, where they finished seventh. Sitting volleyball joined the Paralympic program in 1980 for the men and 2004 for the women, but the Canadian men have never qualified.
Sitting volleyball at the Paralympics will take place from August 29 to September 7 at North Paris Arena. In preliminary round action, Canada will face off against Slovenia on August 29, Brazil on August 31, and Rwanda on September 2. The semifinals will take place on September 5 with the medal matches on September 7.
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These are phenomenal athletes who work as hard as any Olympians! Best of luck in your journey towards Gold! Cheers you guys!!!