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Post by greenpier on Aug 6, 2021 11:08:06 GMT -5
Nice to see them getting some mainstream coverage. Front page of ESPN app and they were also just on the Today show. April Ross and Alix Klineman of the U.S. Win Beach Volleyball GoldKlineman became Ross’s partner in 2017, after transitioning from a career as an indoor volleyball player. Just four years after making the transition to beach volleyball, Alix Klineman of the United States won the gold medal on Friday with her partner April Ross, who took home her third Olympic medal. The Americans won, 21-15, 21-16, over Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia on a blisteringly hot day at Shiokaze Park. The Australians particularly struggled to win points on their serve: An American dig, set and spike always seemed to be waiting for them. She was a professional indoor volleyball player, playing internationally for teams in Italy and Brazil. In 2017, Klineman envisioned a future in beach volleyball and dreamed of the Olympics. She began to study the craft. Ross, a two-time Olympic medalist, was watching. She saw potential with Klineman, 31, citing a list of attributes: her physicality, work ethic, intelligence and intensity, to start. “Alix did study the game more than anyone else I’ve ever known,” said Ross, 39. “She’d go home and watch a ton of video, and I’d be like, ‘Well, I’ve got to go home and watch video, too.’” Without fans in the stands in Tokyo, it was easier to catch the pair’s enthusiasm and communication in the stadium. If there was no cheering, they would make up for it by encouraging each other even louder on their way to the gold. “Our communication and respect for each other is off the charts,” Ross said after clinching the win. “I haven’t really played with someone who’s so open and honest.” They had an extraordinary run at the Tokyo Olympics, winning gold without dropping a set in any of their four matches in sweltering heat. The dominance was the payoff for Klineman’s transition to a new sport and Ross’s bet on a new player. As she walked through the media zone, Klineman held tightly to her gold medal. “People realize what a risk April took taking me on as a partner,” she said. “I had less than one year experience and wasn’t playing at that high level.” The duo said they used every opportunity to improve, including the hour warm-up period before each game. It was a grind, they said, practicing — not simply warming up — until the whistle. “When you’re working for something like this, you need someone who is going to work their butt off every day,” Ross said. “And I knew she was coming out to the beach to make the Olympics. And I knew taking such a risk for herself was a motivating factor.” “It all held up,” she added, looking up to Klineman, who is 6 feet 5 inches tall. For Ross, the gold medal is the culmination of a career that at times was lost in the long shadow of the greatest U.S. beach volleyball players, Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor, the gold medalists in 2004, 2008 and 2012. In her first Olympic trip, Ross won silver in 2012 with Jennifer Kessy, losing the final to the legendary duo. When May-Treanor retired, Ross joined forces with Walsh Jennings to win bronze in 2016. Now she has the full set. “I still can’t fathom that it worked out the way it did,” Ross said moments after Klineman placed the gold medal around her neck. “It’s kind of a fairy tale story, going out at 39 to try and get my gold medal. The fact that it actually happened feels so special and so surreal.” www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/sports/olympics/olympics-beach-volleyball-alix-klineman-april-ross.html
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Post by LovecraftShark on Aug 6, 2021 16:06:04 GMT -5
Watching Alix's first AVP final vs watching the Gold Medal Match yesterday is night and day. Incredible how much she's grown as a beach player
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Post by tamz on Aug 6, 2021 16:47:36 GMT -5
I think Jennifer Kessy deserves a massive amount of credit too. A little bummed that she couldn’t finish the journey with them but she definitely helped develop Alix.
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Post by johnbar on Aug 6, 2021 18:33:32 GMT -5
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 6, 2021 18:38:28 GMT -5
Because those are their national colors.
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 6, 2021 18:42:01 GMT -5
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Post by BearClause on Aug 6, 2021 18:52:21 GMT -5
It’s been mentioned that those are their national colors. However, they’re not like other countries where the colors of the national flag are the primary national color scheme. New Zealand prefers black even though their flag is almost like Australia’s.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Aug 6, 2021 18:56:00 GMT -5
Not particularly an A Team fan but found myself really wanting them, and particularly April, to win. Just felt so happy for her. Minor quibble - their point celebration/hug always kind of pulls me out of the intensity of the match, like there's something additional/more than usual going on there, along the lines of, it's important for us to reaffirm our emotional support for each other as teammates. Just seems out of the norm to me. Love CAN 2's celebration, for example, where it feels more straightforward, like 'Yeah, great play!...Let's keep this going.' It continues rather than detours from the competitive excitement of the match, for me anyway. One of the commentators in an earlier match of theirs mentioned that this was partly strategic. You have a certain amount of allotted time between points and to begin your serve. But apparently, the "clock" for the player to serve doesn't start until that "hug" finishes. In the heat of Tokyo, i would imagine that it bought them (and other teams who employed a similar post-point celebratory/regrouping strategy) a few extra seconds to catch their breath. **edit note: i'm late to catching up on the thread. i see now that ironhammer replied on the same point earlier.
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Post by johnbar on Aug 6, 2021 19:02:56 GMT -5
Thanks Mike and BearClause. Somehow I missed that; it is a little unusual to use colors not part of your flag. I wonder if they feel an affinity for the Green Bay Packers? Or Oregon Ducks....
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Post by c4ndlelight on Aug 6, 2021 19:08:12 GMT -5
Thanks Mike and BearClause. Somehow I missed that; it is a little unusual to use colors not part of your flag. I wonder if they feel an affinity for the Green Bay Packers? Or Oregon Ducks.... Their flag is the UK's, with the same constellation that's on New Zealand's flag - if they all used iterations of their flags the Commonwealth Games would be very confusing.
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Post by gr8ful on Aug 6, 2021 19:23:42 GMT -5
Gold conjures images of Australia’s beaches, mineral wealth, grain harvests and the fleece of Australian wool. Green evokes the forests, eucalyptus trees and pastures of the Australian landscape. Green and gold are also the colours of Australia’s national floral emblem – the golden wattle.
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Post by ajm on Aug 6, 2021 19:45:28 GMT -5
Not particularly an A Team fan but found myself really wanting them, and particularly April, to win. Just felt so happy for her. Minor quibble - their point celebration/hug always kind of pulls me out of the intensity of the match, like there's something additional/more than usual going on there, along the lines of, it's important for us to reaffirm our emotional support for each other as teammates. Just seems out of the norm to me. Love CAN 2's celebration, for example, where it feels more straightforward, like 'Yeah, great play!...Let's keep this going.' It continues rather than detours from the competitive excitement of the match, for me anyway. One of the commentators in an earlier match of theirs mentioned that this was partly strategic. You have a certain amount of allotted time between points and to begin your serve. But apparently, the "clock" for the player to serve doesn't start until that "hug" finishes. In the heat of Tokyo, i would imagine that it bought them (and other teams who employed a similar post-point celebratory/regrouping strategy) a few extra seconds to catch their breath. **edit note: i'm late to catching up on the thread. i see now that ironhammer replied on the same point earlier. They are the Mike Hargrove of beach volleyball.
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Post by BearClause on Aug 6, 2021 19:55:13 GMT -5
One of the commentators in an earlier match of theirs mentioned that this was partly strategic. You have a certain amount of allotted time between points and to begin your serve. But apparently, the "clock" for the player to serve doesn't start until that "hug" finishes. In the heat of Tokyo, i would imagine that it bought them (and other teams who employed a similar post-point celebratory/regrouping strategy) a few extra seconds to catch their breath. **edit note: i'm late to catching up on the thread. i see now that ironhammer replied on the same point earlier. They are the Mike Hargrove of beach volleyball. Steve Trachsel. sabr.org/bioproj/person/steve-trachsel/
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Post by mikegarrison on Aug 6, 2021 21:45:50 GMT -5
the same constellation that's on New Zealand's flag The Southern Cross. Probably the most famous of the southern hemisphere constellations. The Southern Cross is made up of four bright stars. There is also a dimmer fifth star. Interestingly, the Australian flag has the five stars (one indicated as dimmer by being smaller on the flag), while the New Zealand flag only has the four bright ones. Australia also has another star on their flag that is unrelated to the constellation. They call it "the Commonwealth Star". New Zealand: Australia: The Southern Cross:
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Post by tamz on Aug 7, 2021 10:40:40 GMT -5
ATeam on “On Her Turf”
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