Americans win gold medal, and Ross completes the set

TOKYO — April Ross won the Olympic gold medal that completes her set, and when she stood on the top step of the podium at the Shiokaze Park beach volleyball venue on Friday she had with her the perfect person to hang it around her neck: teammate Alix Klineman.

“I know that was a product of COVID, but it actually feels really special when you’re up there,” said Ross, who received her third Olympic medal from her third Olympic partner after a masked IOC official presented it on a tray because of pandemic protocols.

“I was like, ‘We get to award the medals to each other,’” said Ross, who won silver in London and bronze in Rio de Janeiro. “In my head, I was thinking, ‘Thank you, Alix.’”

Playing in 92-degree Fahrenheit (33-degree Celsius) temperatures — the U.S. TV broadcast said it felt like 129 Fahrenheit (54 Celsius) on the sand — the Americans beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16 in 43 minutes.

In the bronze medal match earlier Friday, Joana Heidrich and Anouk VergeDepre of Switzerland cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia.

Klineman, a first-time Olympian, never let her new prize out of her grasp while talking to reporters. She said she had watched individual sports, where winners put their medals around their own necks, and was excited when she realized she could do that for Ross after working four years together to get to the Olympics, and then win it all.

“I feel like we’ve both just tried to support each other and give this partnership as much as we have,” she said. “And so it was a really special moment.”

Artacho del Solar said the four-year qualification process that stretched into five because of the pandemic was a struggle.

“Nothing was easy. These weren’t handed to us,” she said.

In this case, literally so. “I think it’s one of my favorite moments, for sure,” she said. “It’s special to hand this medal to T, with what it meant to us, and have that little cute moment. It’s actually a very nice touch, despite the reason why we’re doing it.”

The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in 2000. But they were never really close against the Americans, who tied for the top spot in the Olympic qualification points race and lost only one set in seven matches in Tokyo.

Klineman and Ross needed 20 minutes to claim the first set. They fell behind 2-0 in the second before scoring 10 straight points to pull away.

Petros Giannakouris / Associated Press April Ross, left, of the United States, and teammate Alix Klineman celebrate their gold medals after defeating Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Friday.