May-Walsh get their perfect ending, a third gold medal
By Christine Brennan, USA TODAY
LONDON – Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh did the impossible Wednesday at the beach volleyball venue. It wasn't that they won their third consecutive Olympic gold medal after splitting up, getting injured and having two babies (Walsh was responsible for that). That's all quite impressive, but that's not their truly remarkable achievement of these Games. No, that would be something far grander, cutting to the very essence of their sport, to be remembered long after they have hung up their bikinis: These two made us take beach volleyball seriously. MORE: May-Treanor, Walsh win
third gold in style In the last match they said they'll ever play together, May-Treanor and Walsh won that third gold medal when they defeated fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 at beautiful Horse Guards Parade. They end their Olympic run with a 21-0 record, stretching from Athens in 2004 through Beijing in 2008 to, finally, London. Even Michael Phelps lost a race or two in his Olympic career. Not these two. Beach volleyball players look to be having too much fun to be working as hard as other Olympic athletes, but talk to a couple of the foes vanquished by the greatest Olympic beach volleyball duo ever and it's interesting how quickly real, raw sport intrudes in the conversation. "They really squashed us," Ross said. "They are the best team of all time," Kessy added. "It doesn't feel too bad being second to them right now. I don't even know if they made any mistakes." A few moments later, May-Treanor and Walsh came along to meet with news reporters and were told that Kessy had said they were basically perfect. "You could tell us that on our best day, and we'd still disagree," May-Treanor said. "Yeah," Walsh said, looking at her partner, "but what would you say, like truly? I'd give me a B." "Like a B-plus," May-Treanor said. "She played amazing," Walsh said. "That's why it's a great partnership." For two years after the Beijing Olympics, it looked as if a night like this would never be possible. May-Treanor went on Dancing with the Stars and ruptured her Achilles tendon. Walsh found a new partner, then gave birth to her first son in May 2009, then a second son a year later. She worked herself back into shape. May-Treanor recovered, and they started talking about teaming up once more. They knew they would be in their mid-30s — May-Treanor is 35, and Walsh turns 34 next week — but they also figured one last try for a gold medal was a journey worth taking. In fact, there was a freshness to the challenge: the physical demands that 20-somethings never have to deal with, and the mental challenge of incorporating the necessary single-minded devotion required for one more Olympic run into their already very full lives. "A lot's happened between '08 and now," May-Treanor said, looking weary just thinking about it. "Two years ago, when we got back together, there was this painting we envisioned. … We saw ourselves on top of that podium, and we did it." "It's sweeter, because the road has been full of challenges," Walsh said. "This was life challenges, adult challenges." Spectators love the beach volleyball venue because it's the closest they can come to going to the Olympics and having a party break out. The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones are played on the PA system. And then there are the dancers — the beach volleyball equivalent of the Laker Girls, who come running out to entertain between sets. During one break, they were still on the court when Walsh came back on it. She worked her way around them to draw a couple of lines in the sand for the next set. This was a fitting metaphor for everything she and her partner had come back to do. The fun was going on all around them, but nothing was going to interfere with their one last quest for greatness.
No comments:
Post a Comment