Olympic beach volleyball results: Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst win gold

The women’s beach volleyball finals kicked off with the bronze medal match, featuring Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross of Team USA and Larissa França and Talita Antunes of Brazil.

Walsh Jennings was coming off of her first career defeat in the Olympic Games, when she and Ross lost to the Brazilian team of Ágatha Bednarczuk and Bárbara Seixas in the semifinals. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Americans and kept Walsh Jennings from adding a fourth gold medal to her collection.

Ross and Walsh Jennings advanced to the bronze medal match, facing the Brazilian duo of Larissa and Talita, and it got off to a rocky start. The Americans dropped the first set, losing to Brazil 21-17, with Walsh Jennings looking shaky throughout.

The American duo rebounded, though, in the second set. They were trailing early and the Brazilians looked dominant. It briefly appeared that not only would Walsh Jennings’ gold medal streak be broken, but she might go home without a medal at all. Then Ross and Walsh Jennings went on a tear and all of the momentum shifted in their favor. They won the second set 21-17 and pushed the match to a third set.

There was no hint of surrender in Ross and Walsh Jennings. The third set stayed close early on, with the Americans and Brazilians trading points, until the United States started pulling ahead. Their momentum was unstoppable, and they rolled to a 15-9 finish, winning the bronze medal.

It is Ross’ second medal. She won silver in the London Games with partner Jennifer Kessy. Ross and Kessy fell in the gold medal match in 2012 to Walsh Jennings and her longtime partner Misty May-Treanor. This bronze is Walsh Jennings’ fourth Olympic medal. In addition to the London Games, she and May-Treanor won gold in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

After defeating Walsh Jennings and Ross in the semifinals Tuesday, Ágatha and Bárbara advanced to the gold medal match, facing the German team of Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst.

It was clear early in the first set that the wind was a factor, but it didn’t stop the Brazilians and Germans from trading point-for-point throughout. The crowd went wild as the Germans started to play the net too aggressively, and it looked like the Brazilians would gain some momentum. Instead, the Germans swung the set in their favor, taking two consecutive points and establishing a 15-13 lead. Brazil kept themselves in it, but Germany never blinked, and Ludwig and Walkenhorst won the first set 21-18.

Germany struck first in the second set with a quick volley from Ludwig and then a solid play at the net from Walkenhorst. The Germans jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, but Ágatha and Bárbara came surging back, pulling within three points of Ludwig and Walkenhorst. Their rally wasn’t enough to overcome the Germans, who took the second set 21-14 to win gold, leaving Ágatha and Bárbara with the silver.