Misty and Kerri: The History

You have probably read by now that Misty May and Kerri Walsh won the gold medal. I thought that I would use my blog post to share some information

Kerri and Misty have been together as partners since 2001. Their families actually introduced them to be partners. Misty was looking for a new beach volleyball partner and Kerri was tired of indoor volleyball. The two have been partners since then. There were rumors in 2006 about a possible break-up as partners, even given the high level of success that they were enjoying. They eventually had a long talk between the two of them and patched things up. Since then, they have dominated the beach volleyball circuit. As an indication of their success, they have not lost in almost a full year with nary a loss so far in 2008. They have also become the only Olympic champion to repeat in beach volleyball. A Brazilian team had a chance to repeat this particular feat but ended up losing in the semi-finals on the men’s side of the beach volleyball draw.

This will probably be the last time than Misty and Kerri defend the Olympic title. Both have expressed a desire to start families with both being in their early thirties. To be more specific, Misty is 31 and Kerri just turned 30 a few days ago.

Misty and Kerri did a great job to win the match at the end of the sets. Look at how close it was going into the final few points of each set: either at 16-16 or 18-18. They were able to turn on the afterburners for the final few points to take the two sets from the Chinese. Even when a medical timeout was called, this did not break the concentration of May and Walsh. They were able to take the time to focus and come out swinging. This is a great lesson in the importance of concentration and focus at the ends of matches. This proved to be the difference maker in the match.

Looking ahead to the next Olympics, the Chinese team of Tian and Wang should be back and will likely be considered the favorite for the gold medal. There are currently ranked number two in the Bible world and actually were the last team to beat Misty May and Kerri Walsh, roughly a year ago. This has proven to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest team, in women’s beach volleyball history.