RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – After rallying from a first-set loss and surviving three match points in the second, Larissa took the microphone at the Copacabana beach volleyball venue to deliver a message that even the Swiss supporters could understand.
“Muito obrigado,” she told the screaming fans after teaming with Talita to beat Switzerland 21-23, 27-25, 15-13 on Sunday.
The 1-hour, 10-minute match was the longest of the Olympics so far, and it included 27 ties and 11 lead changes. There were 15 ties and five lead changes alone in the epic 29-minute second set, keeping the fans in the 12,000-seat beachside arena on their feet long after the sun set over the Rio de Janeiro mountains.
“The crowd was the third player,” Larissa said. “Only the athletes who have played at an Olympic Games know how it is like. What matters today is that we stayed together, between us and the crowd with us, cheering at every point and still cheering now.”
Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich sat on the bench long afterward, her head covered with a towel while her body shook with sobbing. Talking to reporters with reddened eyes, she said: “Now it’s really bad, but I think in a few hours I’ll be really happy with our results and our performances.”