Jay Michael Blankenau (born 27 September 1989) is a Canadian professional
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
player. A member of the
Canada national team, and a participant at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
(
Rio 2016
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
,
Tokyo 2020
The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
).
Personal life
Jay Blankenau was born in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
to Shannon Schurman and Mike Blankenau. He attended both,
Mount Royal University
Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally “Mount Royal College,” Mount Royal University was granted university status in 2009 by the provincial government. The university has an average class s ...
, and the
University of Calgary
{{Infobox university
, name = University of Calgary
, image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
, former ...
, as well as played for both respective teams.
Career
Blankenau began his post–school volleyball career training at the Team Canada Full Time Training Center in
Gatineau
Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...
. He spent the 2012/13 and 2014/15 season there, spending a season at
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
club MAS Niki Aiginio in between. In 2015, he signed a contract with
Dutch
Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
** Dutch people as an ethnic group ()
** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship ()
** Dutch language ()
* In specific terms, i ...
club
Abiant Lycurgus, helping them win the championship. For the 2016/17 season, he joined
SWD Powervolleys Düren
SWD Powervolleys Düren is a German professional men's volleyball club which plays in the German Bundesliga. They play their home matches at the Arena Kreis in Düren
Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-We ...
in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.
National team
Blankenau joined the senior national team in 2014. He was a member of the
Canadian national team that finished 5th at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
. In June 2021, Blankenau was named to the
Canada's 2020 Olympic team.
Honours
Clubs
* National championships
** 2015/2016

Dutch Supercup, with
Abiant Lycurgus Groningen
** 2015/2016

Dutch Cup, with
Abiant Lycurgus Groningen
** 2015/2016

Dutch Championship, with
Abiant Lycurgus Groningen
** 2017/2018

Belgian Championship, with
Noliko Maaseik
** 2018/2019

Belgian Championship, with
Noliko Maaseik
References
External links
*
*
Jay Blankenauat ''Volleybox.net''
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blankenau, Jay
1989 births
Living people
Volleyball players from Edmonton
Canadian men's volleyball players
Olympic volleyball players for Canada
Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Canadian expatriate volleyball players in Greece
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate volleyball players in the Netherlands
Canadian expatriate volleyball players in Germany
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Expatriate volleyball players in Belgium
Canadian expatriate volleyball players in Turkey
Canadian expatriate volleyball players in Poland
Projekt Warsaw players
Setters (volleyball)
21st-century Canadian sportsmen