Annie Martin (born 7 September 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

player. She has represented her country at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Her current playing partner is

Marie-Andrée Lessard Marie-Andrée Lessard (born 6 December 1977) is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) ...

University career

Martin played university volleyball for the Sherbrooke Vert et Or for five seasons from 2000 to 2005. She won RSEQ conference championships with the Vert et Or in 2002 and 2005 and won

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

with the team in 2003 and 2005.

Career

Martin was inspired to compete in beach volleyball after seeing

Mark Heese Mark Heese (born August 15, 1969) is a Canadian male beach volleyball player. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Heese began playing beach volleyball at the age of 19 at the Balmy Beach Club in Toronto, and is a graduate of McMaster University where he p ...

and John Child compete for Canada at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. She has won five Canadian titles, in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and in 2009. Martin and her partner, Guylaine Dumont, tied for fifth in the women's beach volleyball event at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, after losing to the American pair of

Kerri Walsh Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 hav ...

and

Misty May Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor (; née May; born July 30, 1977) is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and , was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tou ...

in the quarterfinals. Martin qualified once more for the Olympics at the

2012 Summer Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, teaming with

, after the pair defeated Liz Maloney and Heather Bansley in a match to decide the Canadian representatives. Martin and Lessard had previously won the Canadian team a place at the women's beach volleyball tournament by winning the Continental Cup Games qualifying tournament. Prior to the 2012 Games, Martin was the only active Canadian beach volleyball athlete who had competed in a previous Olympics. Ahead of the tournament, the duo felt positive about the teams they had been drawn against in the preliminary group stage. Martin and Lessard lost their first match against the British team of

Zara Dampney Zara Dampney (born 10 June 1986) is a British beach volleyball player, and former indoor volleyball player. She was chosen as one of the two players to take the home nation qualification spot at the 2012 Summer Olympics, with teammate Shauna Mull ...

and

Shauna Mullin Shauna Mullin (born 11 September 1984) is a British beach volleyball player, and former Scottish national indoor volleyball player. She was brought up in South Africa and Malaysia, but plays for Scotland and Great Britain. She was chosen as one o ...

after winning the first set 21–14, but then lost the second 21–14 and the third by 15–13. The Canadian duo lost their second match by a similar scoreline, 2–1 in sets, against the Russian team of Ekaterina Khomyakova and

Evgenia Ukolova Evgenia Nikolayevna Ukolova (russian: Евгения Николаевна Уколова; born 17 May 1989) is a Russian beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she plays with Ekaterina Khomyakova (also known by her married name of Ekaterina Birlov ...

Honours

In 2012, Martin was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Personal life

Annie Martin was born in Lachine, Quebec, and is married to Vincent Larivee. She was educated at the Université de Sherbrooke.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Annie 1981 births Living people Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canadian women's beach volleyball players French Quebecers Olympic beach volleyball players for Canada People from Lachine, Quebec Sportspeople from Montreal Sportspeople from Sherbrooke Université de Sherbrooke alumni Sherbrooke Vert et Or volleyball players