TOKYO — April Ross now has the complete set of Olympic beach volleyball medals: silver in London, bronze in Rio de Janeiro and a gold she won with Alix Klineman at the Tokyo Games on Friday with a victory over Australia.
The Americans beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16 under a blazing sun in a match that was mercifully quick for the biggest crowd yet at Shiokaze Park — about 60 people in the temporary stadium that seats 9,600.
Playing in 92-degree Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) temperatures under the hot Tokyo sun, the Americans finished off the Aussies in 43 minutes. In the bronze medal match earlier Friday, Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia.
The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in 2000. But they were never really close against the Americans, who tied for the top spot in the Olympic qualification points race and lost just one set in seven matches in Tokyo.
With side changes every seven points and technical timeouts every 14, the players retreated to benches, where an awning was rolled up over their heads for shade. A towel covered the seat so they wouldn’t stick to the hot cushion; support staff put icepacks on their heads, or wrapped them in wet towels.
And then there was hydration. So much hydration.
Klineman, a first-time Olympian, and Ross, who has three medals in as many trips to the Summer Games, needed just 20 minutes to claim the first set. They fell behind 2-0 in the second before scoring 10 straight points to pull away.
That silenced the chants of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!” from the Australians in their bright yellow shirts and brought out the cheers of “U-S-A!” from those in the red, white and blue. Australia survived three championship points before Artacho del Solar served into the net to seal the U.S. victory.
Graudina was the first person to make the Olympics after coming up through an NCAA beach volleyball program that started in 2012. She played at Southern California, where she was the 2019 national player of the year and led the Trojans to the 2021 national championship.
U.S. women’s hoops to play for gold
Brittney Griner had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the U.S. beat Serbia 79-59 on Friday to advance to the gold medal game of the Olympics.
The Americans are now one win away from a seventh consecutive gold medal which would match the U.S. men’s team that won seven Olympic titles in a row from 1936-68.
It would also give Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi five gold medals — the most ever by a basketball player in the Olympics. The Americans will face either Japan or France on Sunday.
The U.S. got a scare when Taurasi, grimacing and appearing to rub her left hip after collision, left the game midway through the third quarter. U.S. trainer Ed Ryan was talking with Taurasi when she went to the bench and she didn’t return. Taurasi missed the three exhibition in Las Vegas with a hip pointer but appeared to moving fine during timeouts.
The U.S., which beat both France and Japan in pool play, has won 54 consecutive Olympic games now dating back to the semifinals of the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The Americans got off to another strong start for the second straight game. Trailing 4-3, they went on a 20-4 run to take control with a berth in the gold medal game on the line. Griner had four points on one possession. She hit two free throws after a foul was upgraded to an unsportsmanlike one and then scored on a nifty pass from Breanna Stewart and the Americans led 25-12 after one.
The U.S. scored the next nine points, a run started by A’ja Wilson’s three-point play and led 41-23 at the half. The lead ballooned to 23 points in the third quarter before the Serbia reserves started pressing and cut the deficit to 14 late in the period. The Americans scored the final five points to put the game away.