In her Olympic debut at those Games, she finished fourth with the US women’s indoor volleyball team. It was Walsh Jennings’ first loss in 27 Olympic beach volleyball matches. The Brazilian women entered the Olympic tournament as the top-seeded team while Walsh Jennings/Ross entered as the third seed.
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Before recounting the rally that ignited the American win, the third-seeded Ross and Walsh Jennings rebounded from a disappointing semi-final performance 22 hours earlier Wednesday to score 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-9) 54 minutes over top-seeded and heavily-favored Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil in the women’s bronze medal match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It was the first time Walsh Jennings had lost a match in her 12-year Olympic beach volleyball career.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Devastated.
In the prior three Olympic Games, Kerri played alongside Misty May-Treanor and the duo won gold in all three appearances.
Walsh Jennings and partner April Ross fell to Agatha and Barbara of Brazil in a match played just after midnight on Wednesday morning, losing in straight sets at the beach volleyball stadium in Copacabana Beach. Walsh Jennings and Ross, gaining mometum and with a medal within reach, won the match 17-21, 21-17, 15-9.
“We won and we won well, but if in the final we don’t play well again, all of this will be for nothing”, Brazil midfielder Renato Augusto said.
USA beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings isn’t used to losing at the Olympics. She hugged a few friends, then walked past a bar on the other side of a fence, where a group of Americans rose and gave her a standing ovation.
The match began much as the semifinal match began, with the Brazilian team repeatedly targeting Walsh Jennings with their serves.
“It’s because I wasn’t passing the ball”, she said, USA Today reported. “If you ask everybody, everybody will say ‘Kerri'”.
The queen of beach volleyball remained generous and gracious even as she unexpectedly lost her chance at a fifth gold medal last night.
The United States have won six of a possible 12 gold medals in the sport and 10 overall.
American beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings has a newfound respect for a medal she used to see as a consolation prize. It got worse as the night went on. With May-Treanor retiring, Kerri needed a partner and ended up teaming with Ross shortly after the Olympics were over. “She doesn’t ever want to leave the kids”, her husband, Casey Jennings, said in the video. “He hit the heart”. I spent a lot of time in bed with my eyes closed, trying to get up for this match.
But she and partner April Ross were clear: The Brazilian duo played better and deserved to win.
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Germany’s Laura Ludwig, right, spikes over Brazil’s Talita Rocha during a women’s beach volleyball semifinal match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.
