The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : A dream come true for Americans

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Thursday, Aug 26, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

A dream come true for Americans

By Steve Dilbeck

ATHENS, AUG. 25. There were hugs everywhere, tears aplenty, kisses and waves and standing-in-place leaps. It was an out-of-body experience, and they treasured every moment of it.

American women had never experienced anything like it in beach volleyball.

On the Olympic podium on Tuesday were two American teams, gold-medal winners Misty May and Kerri Walsh, and bronze medallists Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs.

The U.S. women failed to win medals in the two previous Olympics that included beach volleyball, but now they stood on the podium with Brazilian friends Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar amid a joyous celebration at the party venue of the Summer Games.

``I still feel like I'm dreaming,'' May said. ``If I could dream it, this is exactly how it would be.'' Walsh looked like she was struggling to even breathe.

``I couldn't feel my face,'' Walsh said. ``I couldn't feel my body. The feeling is unbelievable. Just so many emotions.''

Dominating

May, the former Long Beach State standout, and Walsh had just completed a dominating performance at the Athens Games. They stormed through the tournament, never losing a game.

The title match was simply more of the same. May and Walsh made easy work of the former five-time world champions, winning 21-17, 21-11.

The outstanding all-around play of the 5'9" May and the strong net play of the 6'2" Walsh have made for the ideal team. They have been the best team on the beach circuit for the past three years and, despite concerns over May's summer abdominal strain, clearly were again here.

``Kerri and Misty were by far the best team,'' said Youngs, whose team fell to them in the semifinals. ``They have been all year.''

May-Walsh have now beaten Bede-Behar, who also took the silver at Sydney, seven consecutive times.

Intrigue

If the championship game at the rocking beach venue lacked great suspense, the bronze-medal match between UCLA's McPeak-Youngs and Australia's Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson offered plenty of intrigue.

Cook, who won the gold at Sydney and bronze in Atlanta with partner Kerri Pottharst, has been playing with a bad right shoulder all season. She played with it taped up on Tuesday.

McPeak-Youngs won the first game 21-8 but were trailing 16-14 in the second when Cook landed with her right arm extended, aggravating the injury.

There was a timeout and then a medical timeout, but Cook was not the same player.

``It was really painful,'' Cook said. ``It was very disappointing.''

Cook started serving underhanded, like some middle school player. Still, with Sanderson active and dominating at the net, they held on to take the second game 21-15.

In the decisive third game to 15 points, McPeak-Youngs led all the way, ending the bronze match with an easy 15-9 victory.

McPeak is well versed in playing at the Olympics with an injured team-mate. In Atlanta, partner Nancy Reno tore a rotator cuff two weeks before the 1996 Games.

In Sydney, her partner was May, who suffered an abdominal tear four weeks before the 2000 Games.

``In '96, Nancy Reno suffered the same injury (as Cook) before Atlanta,'' McPeak said.

``We weren't the same team afterward.

``I feel for her. They beat some good teams on the way to this match. They battled us hard. They didn't let us win the bronze medal easily.''

May and Walsh, who had already been getting some endorsement attention, could find Tuesday's victory lifts them to a new level. With the U.S. winning two medals, they were hoping for even bigger things. — New York Times News Service

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