There were many Olympians and Olympic hopefuls that I was looking forward to supporting this year, but by far my absolute favorites were Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Misty May-Treanor. I fell in love with these girls in Beijing, when they trounced their competition in match after match, and then went on to win the gold for the second Olympics in a row. For the London Olympics, many said they were too old, facing too many injuries, and that the game was now all about the youngsters. Well, Misty and Kerri showed them. THEY WON GOLD!!!! Again! Last night, Misty and Kerri faced up against the other American team, Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, and Misty and Kerri were playing for the last time together. It was bittersweet and beautiful and it made me cry.
I’m not saying Kerri and Misty were completely on their game the whole time at the London Olympics – there were a few sets where I was like, “Damn, girls, get it together.” But they brought their A-game when it counted. One of my favorite match-ups was when they trounced the Italian team, and one of those poor Italian girls broke down in tears halfway through the set. I felt bad for the Italian girls, of course, but I had never seen Misty & Kerry make another team cry. It was amazing television.
Anyway, I just think that Kerri and Misty are a different kind of “America’s Sweetheart”. No disrespect to the young Gabby Douglas (16) and Missy Franklin (17), but I don’t really identify with them. I love Gabby and Missy, I admire what they’ve done, and I’m glad that they’re getting an outpouring of love. But Kerri and Misty are different – they were defending their previous gold medals. They’re closer to my age. More often than not, they both looked like they needed a stiff drink. RESPECT for the older Olympians, you know? And I loved that Kerri basically just burst into tears as soon as they started interviewing her after the game. She and Misty love each other so much.
Here’s their Today show interview this morning:
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Guess who else was at the gold medal match? Prince Harry. Of course!! Because if girls are in bikinis, sweating their asses off, Prince Harry is there. He’s like the Batman of girls-in-bikinis. Harry was at the match with British Olympian Laura Trott. Who just happens to be a blonde, and sort of his type. She looks into it – I’m not sure if he’s into it, though. You can see some video here, and here’s a screencap.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Screencaps.
i totally cried too, especially during their interview with bob costas. gets me choked up just thinking about it.
Love them! Love Misty’s dancing after they won. I hope Kerri and her new partner are successful, too.
Love them. Made me very proud today!
yeahhhh i’m italian..i saw the girls crying…….. but these 2 deserved the final. well done.
These are two awesome ladies…at many many levels! What a great way for Misty to finish her playing career and with her BFF.
I. love. them. These ladies are incredible. Young women should be idolizing women like Walsh-Jennings and May-Treanor instead of Hollywood actors and famewhores. You know, because these women actually have a discernible talent and have to work hard to get where they are. Amazing examples.
I got a bit teary as well. So happy and proud for these women, they are awesome!
Love them! So happy they won. Once they beat the Chinese girls I knew they were golden. I such have a soft spot for them. I really don’t get into beach volleyball unless it’s the two of them playing, I’m definitely going to miss the team. Glad Misty was able to go into retirement with the three-peat. I watched it live and then again on NBC later on. The post game interview where Kerri started crying was so beautiful. You can tell how much they love each other and that it’s more than volleyball.
I was cheering for them too and was so happy last night watching them play their last match. It’s so nice to see two people who genuinely care about each other. You can see how close they are :*)
Authentic, talented atheletes and friends! That is what women in bikinis should look like, not anorexic sticks.
They are incredible, so proud of them!
I just got teary-eyed all over again. These women proved that it doesn’t matter if you’re 17 or 35, if you work towards a goal you can accomplish it. Misty said last night that they wanted to be the greatest of all time and I think they proved it last night. They’ve never lost a match in Olympic play and they have three GOLD medals. Nothing against Jen Kessy & April Ross but they’ll never be as great as Misty & Kerri.
I adore these two and have for years. They truly love each other, I cried several times.
I love the game, played from fourth grade into college and a summer on the beach. So much fun.
They are truly inspirational. I love the olympics!
The cicks rule, today we got soccer and water polo gold. Woooo!
I really enjoyed watching them play, got sucked into it the past few nights. I like how much they care about each other, and display great sportsmanship with the other teams after each match. They worked hard and it paid off, and everyone should be proud of them.
Awesome! I also really liked Kessy and Ross. When they won against the (cranky)Brazil team to play against Misty and Kerri it was great.
So glad for them to win the gold again!
VERY much deserved.
Major girl crushes on Misty and Kerri! They are so awesome, real and work their tails off!
I LOVE them! Their games were thrilling – I was shouting at the TV and screaming when they won some of their long rallies. And I cried when Kerri cried.
And their bodies are perfection – strong, toned – beautiful women and role models inside and out!
The gif of Misty dancing needs to be added to this post, Kaiser. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8gvlzn9OT1r63cgyo1_400.gif
LMAO!
Yes, I too fell in love with them 3 Olympics ago in Athens. They are very tough competitors. I was worried a bit at first for them but they came thru. I was very impressed with the other American team too though. I think Misty and Kerri are so successful also because they are best friends and they love each other and have such trust. You can see that everytime they step on or off the court. Also love how Misty gives a shout out to the troops after every match. Was that Kerri’s husband who lifted her up yesterday into the stands? That was so precious. Kerri had 2 kids back-to-back and is in amazing shape. I have no excuse for not losing the last few pounds of my baby weight.
Hahaha how adorable was that? Her husband pulled her right up into the stands and gave her the biggest hug ever! And then she had her two babes in her arms one on each hip. How awesome does she look after two back to back babies?! I may need to take up beach volley ball, damn girl. Such a champ. Loved Misty’s running man after the win. So adorable.
Im pissed I missed this.
Is there any video of them winning the final match? I am not finding anything other than photos.
Try the nbc olympics website. Click the link for sports and then choose beach volleyball. Then scroll down to August 8th match. You need cable to view it though, you’ll be asked to sign in using your cable provider’s info.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/beach-volleyball/encore-usa-vs-usa-womens-beach-volleyball-final.html
Hope it works!
Thank you!!
Ill have to wait until I get home from work then.
It couldn’t been scripted any better. BFFs playing in their final Olympics together and winning the gold for the third time in a row! Thanks Misty and Kerri for so many wonderful and inspiring moments. You made your county and countless fans so proud once again. You’re the best!
These two ladies were the reason I watched the Olympics this year! So happy for them – I was riding the ups and downs watching their last two matches. Congrats to them, so happy they won their third gold! I had to watch video of Kerri’s husband picking her up for a hug – that was so touching. But before I knew it that evolved into getting onto Nathan Adrian’s tumblr… Ugh. Darn these fansites!
I love them!!! Congrats to both of them. I’m going to miss watching them play.
Im not even a fan of beach volleyball but these ladies had me engaged and cheering them on the entire time! And just to point it out, you know your country is good when they are playing eachother in the finals!
FYI, Laura Trott has a boyfriend. He was sitting next to her at the match and there are some picture of them kissing.
I love these two! I got spoilers of who won that match before it aired but I still bawled seeing how happy they were and hearing their interviews. So happy for them. Stories like these are what the Olympics are about.