April Ross and Alix Klineman triumphed as Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions after winning the women’s beach volleyball final at Shiokaze Park on Friday. They lost only a single set over the seven matches played along the way. This was the first Olympic gold for either player, while April also had a London 2012 silver and a Rio 2016 bronze. The overall podium count for US women is now up to four gold, a silver and two bronze medals.
Australia’s Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy settled for silver, their first Olympic medal and third overall for their country, after the Sydney 2000 gold and the Atlanta 1996 bronze of Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst.
The bronze went to Switzerland’s Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich. It was Switzerland’s first and Europe’s second ever Olympic medal in women’s beach volleyball. The Alpine nation also had a bronze medal in the Athens 2004 men’s tournament.
