August 16, 2022: Wrapping up the first week of the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, Quebec’s Audrey Gauthier and Laura Côté-Collin and Ontario’s Steven Abrams and Jonny Pickett captured beach volleyball gold medals.
Gauthier and Côté-Collin defeated Ontario’s Sophia Hladyniuk and Emma Braticevic 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) to reach the top of the podium, finishing the tournament 5-1. The gold medal was Quebec’s first female beach volleyball gold since 2001, beach volleyball’s first year in the Canada Summer Games.
Annie Martin, a two-time Olympian in beach volleyball, was an athlete on that 2001 gold medalist team and served as the coach for the Quebec beach volleyball teams, helping to bring gold medals back to the province once again.
Team British Columbia’s Sara Ostojic and Julia Soeller captured bronze with a 2-0 (21-10, 21-13) win over New Brunswick’s Brett Bolden and Madeline Mills.
On the men’s side, Abrams and Pickett were dominant throughout the week, going undefeated (6-0) en route to their first-place finish. They met Team British Columbia’s Luke de Greeff and Dan Everton, who were also undefeated heading into the final match, with Ontario coming out on top 2-0 (21-11, 21-12). The gold medal win is Ontario’s first on the men’s side since 2009.
Quebec’s Grégoire Mercier-Noël and Hugo Ouellet took home the bronze medal in a three-set battle with Josh DeYoung and Tynan Gannett of Nova Scotia, coming out on top 2-1 (21-16, 21-23, 15-9).
Beach volleyball had its historic moments with Nunavut making their first appearance in the sport in Canada Games history, with Talia Grant and Shawna Kyak playing on the women’s side and Ian McDonald and Aiden Anawak competing on the men’s. Both teams earned their first-ever wins in the event. Team Yukon also sent their first-ever women’s team, with Paige Poelman and Caelon Workman representing their Territory.
Volleyball Canada would like to thank the athletes, staff, volunteers, coaches, and referees for their work during the first week at the Canada Summer Games.
Week 2 will see indoor volleyball action from August 16 to 21, with two more gold medals on the line.