TOKYO – The American “A Team” has advanced into the gold medal match of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament.
April Ross and Alix Klineman defeated Switzerland on Thursday with 21:12, 21:11 in Shiokaze Park and won at least one silver medal. It is the third medal for Ross, who won silver in London and bronze in Rio de Janeiro. Klineman is an Olympian for the first time.
The Swiss Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre play for bronze against the loser of the second semi-final between Australia and Latvia.
The Americans never lagged behind in the first set. They lost the first point of the second before losing three points in a row to take a lead they never gave up.
The win also secures the United States a beach volleyball medal for the seventh consecutive Summer Games. This has been every one of them since the sport was added to the program in Atlanta in 1996.
Only Brazil had achieved the same level of success – until now. It was ruled out for the first time in Tokyo, and none of its teams reached the semifinals.
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