May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings Dominate for 3rd Straight Gold

08 Aug, 2012

LONDON — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings entered the 2012 Olympics as the greatest beach volleyball team of all-time. But with back-to-back gold medals, it was more like “up to this point,” because it seemed like another team could come along and win two in a row, too.

Well, that team will now have to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

That dominance will never happen again.

“I really think it’s something that can’t be done again,” May-Treanor said about a three-peat. “And that’s why it’s so special.”

It’s the culmination of a journey that started 12 years ago, when Walsh Jennings was asked by her volleyball idol to partner up. In beach volleyball, a dozen years is almost like a couple reaching its 50th wedding anniversary.

“Staying together in a partnership for that long and getting through all the battles, that’s a really challenging thing to do,” Walsh Jennings said. “I hope it’s never broken but that’s not what it’s about. We did it, we set the standard. Now it will be fun watching people chase it.”

They will chase, but they won’t reach the bar May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings have set. It’s not because they’re so much better than everyone else, like the U.S. women’s basketball team, for example. But it’s because May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings have made this game so popular around the world.

In London, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings faced the toughest field of any semifinalist, beating four of the top seven teams in Olympic qualifying. All but one of the women they faced was younger, sometimes by as many as 14 years. And they all started competitively soon after May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won their first gold medal in Athens.

Because they inspired a new generation to play the game, women’s beach volleyball has never been deeper. That makes their three-peat feat even harder to match.

The only woman they faced in London not younger than them was Jen Kessy, who is 35 like May-Treanor and teamed with April Ross to face their compatriots in the gold-medal match. She’s been around as long as the three-time champs.

“You got to start really young to do three Olympics and (win every time),” Kessy said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another team like Kerri and Misty.”

By: Jon Ackerman, NBC Olympics

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