There’s a saying that goes ‘getting to the top is easy, but staying there is the challenge.’
Misty Mae Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings have never heard this saying! Surely, they never have! The saying has probably never heard of them either.
As fellow American beach volleyball player, April Ross put it; their accomplishments are “just ridiculous”.
Having British big wigs, like Prince Harry, David Beckham and British Prime Minister, David Cameron among others, buying advanced tickets to cheer you on pretty much says it all.
And it’s not that the teams they face are ‘bad’, they are just REALLY good!
London marked their third consecutive and final Olympic gold medal win and it was truly sad to see the pair depart even at the top of their game. They have been the face of beach volleyball for over a decade. And when I say the face, I mean just that – they are the ambassadors of the sport. The names Misty and Kerri are synonymous with beach volleyball, not just women’s beach volleyball.
To say the American duo has dominated the sport would be an understatement of great proportions.
At one point in their career, they were unbeaten for 108 games, which included their run from Athens to Beijing.
They were feared on the sand, there is definitely no question about that and rarely gave their opponents even the slightest hope of beating them. Chinese duo Xue and Zhang came extremely close in a thrilling Olympic semi-final match which ended 22-20, 22-20. But when you’re Misty and Kerri, there is always that mental edge that has defined their game over the years.
Their decision to compete in London was unexpected and last minute though and thus the reason, they were ranked no. 4 going in, but never underdogs.
Both took sabbaticals from the sport they love to focus on their families after the Beijing Olympics, sending signals that it might have been the end of the US beach volleyball powerhouse.
Walsh had two baby boys and May- Treanor tore her Achilles heel, keeping them both out of the sport for approximately 18 months.
They both took to the sand after with different partners, but it would turn out that neither are any good without each other. May for instance, went winless in 2010 with Nicole Branagh and decided to sit out 2011.
Before the start of the 2011 spring season however, she contacted Walsh about making a comeback and the two began rebuilding their marriage pretty late with the Olympics right there.
But to come back from babies, surgeries and injuries, enter London as the fourth best pair in the world – a position unknown to them – and still cop their third straight Olympic gold medal was outstanding to stay the least.
They know how to win and they don’t just win – they demolish and humiliate their opponents.
It’s a standard that any athlete or team in any sport would do well to duplicate. It’s a standard that has already written history and will remain there forever. The sands will not be the same without these two.
