Puerto Rico’s beach volleyball pairs get their first shot at qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics this weekend, when the Norceca Pre-Olympic Tournament runs Friday through Sunday at the Areia Sport Complex in Vega Baja, a venue with eight courts and lighting. Allanis Navas and Keishlyann Sánchez (women) and Diego Rosich and William Rivera (men) will need to win their respective divisions to claim an Olympic berth against countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Both Puerto Rican pairs recently reached the podium at the latest Norceca circuit stop. Puerto Rico has only one prior Olympic representation in the sport, by Ramón "Monchito" Hernández and Raúl Papaleo at Athens 2004. National coach Ángel "Cholo" Peña, who was also on the Athens 2004 delegation, called the Pre-Olympic, played at home, the most accessible of four qualification routes for the 24 berths per division: 15 via the world ranking of June 2028, one from the 2027 World Championship, and one each from three international qualifying tournaments in 2028.
He said Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, Paris 2024 silver medalists ranked seventh, and the United States’ sixth-ranked Kelly Cheng-Megan Kraft are the top women’s rivals, while the men’s field, including Taylor Crabb-Chase Budinger (US) and Samuel Schachter-Jonathan Pickett (Canada, ranked 19), is less lopsided. Sánchez replaced the injured María González, so the women’s pair has little time playing together.
Norceca vice president Ariel Sainz Rodríguez inspected the facilities and will attend; Norceca has not confirmed reports that Cuba and Nicaragua failed to obtain visas. Competition format will be set once delegations are confirmed, with pool play expected followed by direct-elimination rounds.