RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Devastated. Unable to sleep. Cursing and crying and blaming herself after falling short of her goal to win a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Staggered by her first-ever loss at the Summer Games, behind by one set in the bronze medal match and trailing in the second, Kerri Walsh Jennings pulled herself together on the Copacabana sand to become the most-decorated beach volleyball player in the sport’s Olympic history.
“It’s crazy what 24 hours can do,” Walsh Jennings said after she and April Ross beat Brazil’s Talita and Larissa 17-21, 21-17, 15-9 on Wednesday night. “This is a highlight of my athletic career, without a doubt.”
Walsh Jennings struggled with her passing throughout the medal round, including on Tuesday night when the pair lost to Brazil’s second-seeded team. But the three-time champion delivered a pair of blocks for the final two points to clinch the bronze.
After hugging their opponents, Walsh Jennings slapped hands with some courtside volunteers and then found a U.S. cheering section in the corner of the 12,000-seat arena built on the beach that serves as the sport’s spiritual home.