TOKYO -- April Ross took home the Olympic gold medal. She was joined by Alix Klineman, her teammate, when she stood at the podium at Shiokaze Park's beach volleyball venue.Ross said, "I know it was COVID but it really feels special when you're there." Ross received her third Olympic gold from her third Olympic partner, after an IOC official masked presented it on a tray in accordance with pandemic protocols.Ross won bronze in Rio de Janeiro and silver in London. Ross said, "I was like," "We get to give the medals to each others." "In my head I was thinking, "Thank you Alix."In heat of 92° Fahrenheit (33° Celsius), the U.S. TV broadcast stated that it felt like 129°F (54°C) on the sand. The Americans defeated Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia 21-15, 21-16 in just 43 minutes.Anouk Verge Depre of Switzerland and Joana Heidrich of Switzerland won the bronze-medal match. They cruised to a straight set victory over Latvia.Klineman was a first-time Olympian and never lost her prize while speaking to reporters. After four years of working together to reach the Olympics, she was thrilled to see Ross's individual medal-winning sports.She said, "I feel like we have both tried to support one another and give this partnership as much of ourselves as possible." It was truly a special moment.Artacho del Solar stated that the four-year process of qualification, which stretched to five years because of the pandemic, was difficult."Nothing was simple." These were not given to us," she stated.In this instance, it is literally true.She said, "It's one my favorite moments for sure." It's very special to give this medal to T and tell him what it means to us. And that's just a little moment. It's a nice touch, regardless of the reason we do it.Australia's first beach volleyball medal was the silver. It came after Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook won gold at Bondi Beach in 2000. They were never really able to match the Americans who held the top spot in Olympic qualification points and won only one set in seven matches in Tokyo.Ross and Klineman took 20 minutes to win the first set. They were 2-0 down in the second set before they scored 10 consecutive points to win.This silenced the "Aussie!" chants. Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! The cheers of "U.S.-A!" were emitted by the bright yellow-colored Australians. From those wearing the blue, white, and red. The Shiokaze Park temporary stadium, which seats 9,600, saw the largest crowd to date -- 60 people.Ross stated that cheering was more personal because there were so few people in attendance. Canadian player Melissa Humana Paredes thanked their supporters after a match earlier in week. She listed each name.Ross stated, "We are just so grateful that the Olympics took place." "We were certainly embracing any atmosphere that was there. It was a great moment to hear the delegation start to chant 'U-S.-A! It was a personal moment, but it still felt like the match was important." Although it felt personal, we felt the gravity and magnitude of the match.Australia won three of the championship points, but Artacho del Solar scored the winning goal to secure the victory for the U.S. Klineman and Klineman hugged for a while, before she went to the bench to get some water. Then, the pair went to the stands to pose with the American flag.Ross, who played in 2012 with Jen Kessy and 2016 with Kerri Walsh Jennings, said that "I still cannot fathom how it worked out the way they did." It's a fairytale story. I went out to get my gold medal. It feels surreal and special that it happened."In the third-place match, Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka from Latvia won easily 21-19, 21-15 by the SwissGraudina, who was born in 2012 and was part of an NCAA beach volleyball program, was the first person to reach the Olympics. She was the national player of the Year at Southern California and led the Trojans towards the 2021 national title.
