(TOKYO), April Ross now holds the complete Olympic beach volleyball medals, including a silver in London and bronze in Rio de Janeiro. She also has a gold that she won on Friday at the Tokyo Games with Alix Klineman.Mariafe Artacho del Solar of the USA beat Taliqua Clancy from Australia 21-15, 21-16 in a match that was mercifully fast for the largest crowd at Shiokaze Park. The temporary stadium seats 9,600.The Americans defeated the Aussies in 43 minutes, despite playing in temperatures of 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33.3 Celsius) under the scorching Tokyo sun. Anouk Verge Depre from Switzerland and Joana Heidrich of Switzerland won the bronze medal match earlier Friday. They cruised to a straight set victory over Latvia.Australia's first beach volleyball medal was the silver, which it received in 2000 when Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook won gold at Bondi Beach. They were never really able to match the Americans who held the top spot in Olympic qualification points and won just one set in seven matches in Tokyo.Side changes were made every seven minutes and technical timeouts were given every fourteen. Players retreated to the benches where an awning was placed over their heads for shade. To prevent them from sticking to the hot cushion, a towel was placed on the seat. Support staff also applied icepacks to their heads or wrapped them in moist towels.Then there was hydration. There was so much hydration.Klineman, a first time Olympian, and Ross who has three medals in the same trips to the Summer Games had to wait just 20 minutes to win the first set. After falling behind by 2-0 in the first set, they scored 10 consecutive points to win.This silenced the chants from Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! Australia won three championship points, before Artacho del Solar scored into the net to secure the victory for the U.S.Klineman and Klineman hugged for a while, then she went to the bench to get some water. Then, the couple went over to the stands to pose with an American flag.The Swiss won straight sets over Latvia and claimed the first Olympic gold medal for women in their country's beach sports. They defeated Tina Graudina, Anastasija Kravcenoka 21-19 in their first set. In the second set, they took a 5-1 advantage and pulled away to win 21-15.Graudina, who was born in 2012 and came up through a NCAA beach volleyball program, was the first to reach the Olympics. She was the national player of the Year at Southern California and led the Trojans towards the 2021 national title.Get the Brief. Register to get the best stories right now. Enter valid email address. * Your request was unsuccessful and timed out. Please sign up again. Sign up now! An error occurred during your registration. Please try again later. If you don't wish to receive promotional emails from TIME, please check the box. You may unsubscribe at anytime. Signing up means you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policies. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy, Terms of Service and Terms of Service also apply. We are grateful! We have sent you a confirmation email for your security. To confirm your subscription, click the link and you will start receiving our newsletters. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the confirmation in 10 minutes.Write to us at letters@time.com
