How a game of musical chairs led Canada's Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson to the Olympic podium

It was a game of beach volleyball musical chairs.

And Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson landed the silver seats.

The Canadian duo joined forces two years ago amid a major shuffle in team pairings across the country's elite players.

On Friday, on the sand amid an idyllic Parisian scene in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, they won an Olympic silver medal together.

"In the back of everybody's mind, even people who are just kind of spectators of the sport, they were always thinking, Brandie and Mel, they seem so compatible. They kind of approach the game the same way," said Mark Heese, whose bronze medal with partner John Child in 1996 was previously Canada's only in the sport.

WATCH | Humana-Paredes, Wilkerson win silver medal:

The decision for Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson to team up was at once difficult yet easy.

Humana-Paredes was a world champion with ex-partner Sarah Pavan, and the twosome entered Tokyo 2020 ranked No. 1 in the world. 

And so Humana-Paredes turned to her former York University teammate, Wilkerson, who'd spent the previous Olympic cycle alongside Heather Bansley and ended it in the same place with a quarterfinal loss in Tokyo.

Now they've reached the Olympic podium together. But Humana-Paredes, the 31-year-old from Toronto, said she always believed it could happen.

"I envisioned playing with Brandie a long time before playing with her. I don't think it was a matter of if I was going to play with Brandie, it was just a matter of when. It was all about the timing. We had a really good amount of respect of each other's careers," Humana-Paredes said. 

"It was not lost on me that we could create some magic together, so I'm not surprised."

WATCH | Canadian duo discusses medal performance:

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