Heather Bansley retires from beach volleyball to join coaching ranks
Ranked No. 1 with partner Wilkerson in 2018, lost in 2020 Olympic quarter-finals
Two-time Olympian Heather Bansley is retiring from beach volleyball and entering the coaching ranks.
The 34-year-old from Waterdown, Ont., is joining the Canadian coaching staff of Volleyball Canada's NextGen program.
"I'm going to miss training every day," Bansley said in a news release. "I am an athlete who loved training. I will really miss having the opportunity to train around the world on some amazing beaches."
Bansley and partner Brandie Wilkerson of Toronto made it to the quarter-finals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before losing to Latvia's 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, where they advanced to the quarter-finals before falling to eventual gold medallists Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany.
In mid-February, Wilkerson former world junior and college champion Sophie Bukovec of Toronto for the upcoming season. They are currently training in Brazil.
With files from CBC Sports
