RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – If Kerri Walsh Jennings winds up with a fourth medal in Olympic beach volleyball, it will be bronze – not gold, like the other three she has earned in what had been an unblemished record at the Summer Games.
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Walsh Jennings says losing on Tuesday night was “a bad feeling”. “Because everything has been exposed”. They then won gold at Sydney 2000 and have been sharing their memories of that day, which you can read here.
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.
Late in the first, the Brazilians’ tactics appeared to get to Walsh Jennings. The Brazilians led the tournament in aces entering Tuesday’s game, and you could see why. Their team was down in the sixth and final inning when his sister hit a double to the top of the wall to clear the bases for a victory over Aptos.
Ross, her eyes red-rimmed, said, “We had so many opportunities to take the match and do what we wanted”. After the final point, Agatha and Barbara jumped for joy as the crowd at the Copacabana Olympic beach volleyball venue roared.
At age 38, Walsh Jennings had to know this was coming at some point.
The United States will now try and settle for a bronze medal on Wednesday as Ross and Walsh Jennings will meet another Brazilian duo of Larissa Franca Maestrini and Talita Rocha. Ross replaced Walsh Jennings’ longtime partner Misty May-Treanor, who retired after the 2012 Olympics. Italy defeated Russian Federation in the other men’s semifinal to clinch its first Olympic beach volleyball medal. She and Ross had to come down from a set in a winner-take-all atmosphere in front of a hostile Brazil crowd. When the pair began playing together again, Ross upped her game to compensate for Walsh Jennings’ injuries. Ross got a hand on a ball that sailed off the court. Counterpart Talita was suddenly the one looking out of sorts at net, unsure what to do after several massive blocks by Walsh Jennings.
Afterward, they praised each other in what has blossomed into a tight-knit partnership.
“I haven’t spent one second thinking about that”, she said.
Not many. Which is what makes Kerry Walsh Jennings a success even in defeat. Only this time, she never got comfortable. No disrespect to winning a gold medal; it takes everything you have.
Brazilian men’s team Alison and Bruno also advanced to the gold medal game by beating the Netherlands earlier Tuesday.
The Women’s Beach Volleyball tournament at the Rio Olympics comes to an end with the bronze and gold-medal matches on Wednesday, Aug. 17, beginning at 9pm ET on NBC.
She then causes mayhem with a serve.
They fought back. As a small section of fans chanted “U-S-A”, Walsh Jennings and Ross ripped off several points in a row, erasing a three-point deficit and taking a three-point lead of their own.
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We’ve known Kerri Walsh Jennings to be an all-time great numerically and based on her trophy case.
