US beach volleyball shut out of medals for first time in Olympic history

For the first time, the US leaves the Olympics without a medal in beach volleyball.

Miles Partain and Andy Benesh couldn’t stop the slide against the Qatari team of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, losing 21-14, 21-16. It was the first U.S. medal elimination since the sport was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Partain and Benesh were the last hopes for the US after both the women’s teams and the remaining men’s team had already been eliminated from the tournament.

“I wish one of our teams (won a medal),” Partain said. “We did our best.”

According to Benesh, the lack of American medals in the sport at the Paris Games was not so much due to a decline in team level, but rather because the overall level of play had risen.

“It’s a little bit different than 20 years ago. There’s a lot of competition all over the world,” Benesh said. “As a beach volleyball fan, it’s fun to see people playing with different styles in the men’s and women’s competitions.”

The American duo led 12-11 in the first set at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, but sloppy shooting allowed the Qataris to pull away. Younousse and Tijan drew cheers from the night-time crowd with some of their improvised moves.

“Qatar played really well,” Benesh said. “We just didn’t perform as well as they did.”

The Qataris still have a chance to do better than three years ago in Tokyo, when their bronze was the first Olympic medal in beach volleyball for a Middle Eastern country.

“We are living our dream. We have no expectations, we are just dreaming,” Younousse said. “It is a great opportunity to play here in front of the Eiffel Tower with this great atmosphere.”

Reigning men’s champions Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sørum from Norway also impressed under the spotlight, winning 21-16, 21-17 to beat Pablo Herrera Allepuz – a silver medallist at the 2004 Athens Games – and Adrián Gavira from Spain.

Norway won the first set when Mol charged the net for a clever block. Soerum’s spike on the net then won the match as a breeze cooled the fans after an intense heat in the French capital. Mol celebrated with a spectacular backflip and Sorum didn’t bother to match him, settling for a comical backward roll.

In Thursday’s semi-finals they will face Germany’s Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers, while the Qataris will face Swedish jumpset specialists David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.

In the women’s quarterfinals earlier on Wednesday, Brazil’s top-seeded team of Ana Patrícia Ramos and Duda Lisboa defeated Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudiņa of Latvia 21-16, 21-10. The Brazilians dropped to their knees and then embraced after winning on the second match point when Samoilova’s serve hit the net.

“It was difficult to read their service, there was a lot of variation,” Ramos said through an interpreter. “But we recovered well.”

Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson reached the semi-finals by beating Daniela Álvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno of Spain 21-18, 21-18.

Canada won a back-and-forth first set when Moreno served long. After winning on their second match point, the Canadians dove under the net and celebrated in front of a handful of flag-waving fans.

In Thursday’s semifinals, the Brazilians will face the Australian team of Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy – silver medalists at the Tokyo Games three years ago – while the Canadians will take on Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland.