That came at the end of pool play. “That’s unacceptable”, says Walsh Jennings.
Advertisement
When Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross stepped on to the sand at Rio’s beach volleyball arena on Copacabana Beach a couple of hours before midnight Wednesday, they wanted to disappear into the waves that crashed behind them. Walsh Jennings had surgery on her shoulder less than a year ago for a torn labrum and capsule.
Instead, on a warm moonlit night on Rio’s Copacabana Beach, Walsh Jennings and Ross won an Olympic bronze medal.
Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross had only lost one set in their first five matches heading into the semis against Brazil. If it didn’t before, the whole country knows both of their names now.
But the Brazilian duo was surprised by Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst in the semifinals, getting beaten soundly in straight sets, and then later that night the Americans also fell, to Brazil’s younger team of Agatha and Barbara. They were a motivated home team that served better and rallied better.
These were the first Olympic Games that Walsh Jennings teamed up with Ross. It was no consolation.
“There’s no shame in a bronze medal”. “That’s not who we are”.
After the final point, the two Americans hugged and then walked to the net and shook hands. She and Misty May-Treanor won three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 2004 through 2012, where they didn’t lose a single match. “Kerri Walsh Jennings’ height is 6’2” and when she jumps up to smash the ball into the opponent’s court she is a sight to see.
Walsh Jennings turned 38 this week. She made her debut at the Beijing Games alongside Renata Ribeiro.
“I thought, ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself, it is an honor to have another day to fight for what you want, so go fight for it, ‘ ” said Walsh Jennings. I put us in a hole from the start. Only this time, she never got comfortable. “That was just a little bit of mojo we needed”.
Ross, who earned silver in London, said the bronze medal game is “the hardest match to play in sports”.
“To not go to the finals of an Olympic Games is absolutely devastating”, she said. I don’t even know how many aces [Brazil] got-four per game, maybe, on me? “We came here to be our best, and I was subpar”. The Brazilian women pulled away again, leading 12-9 entering the first technical timeout of the second set. Spacing was a problem. Serves were a bigger problem.
Advertisement
At the beginning of the tournament, it felt like all the matches were just a precursor to the inevitable showdown between the Brazilians and the Americans. Their deliveries kept Walsh Jennings and Ross slightly off balance all night. The Brazilians lead the series 4 to 1 with all matches in tournament finals and ending in straight sets.
