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Canada's Women Ended a 32-Year Olympic Drought
Canada beat the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-23, 25-14) in Santo Domingo on 29 August and took NORCECA's only place at the Los Angeles Games. It is a first Olympics for the Canadian women since Atlanta in 1996.
Canada beat the Dominican Republic 3-1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-23, 25-14) in Santo Domingo on 29 August and took the one place NORCECA had at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Kiera Van Ryk and Alexa Gray scored 22 points apiece, and Brayelin Martinez finished with 19 for the hosts.
Canada had swept Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-10) in the semi-final and the Dominican Republic had beaten Cuba 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-15).
This was a separate tournament from the continental championship Canada won earlier that month. The four teams that finished highest there, excluding the United States, were sent into a two-day qualifier, because the Americans already hold a place as hosts.
The Canadian Olympic Committee lists three Olympic appearances for its women, at Montreal in 1976, Los Angeles in 1984 and Atlanta in 1996. Los Angeles in 2028 will be the fourth, thirty-two years after the last one.
The Dominican Republic was not chasing a drought. Las Reinas del Caribe played Athens in 2004, London in 2012, Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024, and Santo Domingo would have made it a fifth Games and a third in a row.
Kiera Van Ryk scored 20 points against Puerto Rico on 13 kills, three blocks and four aces, and Brayelin Martinez scored 21 against Cuba.
Giovanni Guidetti coaches Canada. He spoke to NORCECA after the Puerto Rico match.
I liked the way my team played the match. Puerto Rico put pressure on us in the second set, but we were able to stay strong and close out that set with a positive result. In the third set, we regained our rhythm and controlled it very well. I'm satisfied with our performance today and am already looking forward to a great match tomorrow.
Canada lost one set in the whole qualifier and it was the second set of the final.
Correction, 17 September 2026. This page went up on 29 August as a preview of that night's final and stayed in the future tense for nineteen days, with a dek telling readers Canada played on Saturday. It is now written to the result. The prediction it closed on, that the home crowd would be worth a set and Canada would win the other three, is what happened.
