When you are already part of “the greatest beach volleyball team of all time,” it’s pretty difficult to author a suitable encore. Kerri Walsh Jennings appears to be doing just that.
What Michael Phelps has been to US Olympic swimming, Walsh Jennings has been to beach volleyball, proving it’s never too late to add to your legacy.
The First Lady of sand will pair with April Ross in a women’s beach volleyball semifinal Tuesday in Rio with the goal of reaching the final, where she would compete for a fourth consecutive gold medal.
This semifinal will have the feel and intensity of a gold-medal match. The US team will face the reigning world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas of Brazil. Walsh Jennings and Ross are ranked third in the world; the Brazilians stand at No. 2.
No. 1 ranked Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes of Brazil will face Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst in the other semifinal. The gold-medal match is scheduled for Wednesday night.
Walsh Jennings has been an inspiration to female athletes, mothers and anyone paying attention. She turned 38 during the team’s straight-set quarterfinal victory over Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Louise Bawden, keeping the Americans in what has become a captivating tournament. Now she’s one win away from playing for another gold medal.
We have become accustomed to seeing Walsh Jennings survive and advance. She teamed with Misty May-Treanor to win Olympic gold at the 2004 Games in Athens, 2008 in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Games in London, earning them the distinction as the G.O.A.T. in the sport.
The exclamation point came with May-Treanor’s retirement following London, ending that historic partnership. But Walsh Jennings is far from finished. The mother of two and Olympic icon has teamed with Ross in hopes of capturing an unprecedented fourth gold.
Ross, along with Jennifer Kessy, was part of the American team Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor defeated in London for the gold. The new partnership got off to a rough start with a third-place finish at the FIVB World Tour Fuzhou Open, and soon Walsh Jennings was sidelined with a shoulder injury, which she dislocated twice during the 2015 season. She would undergo the fifth shoulder surgery of her career last September and did not compete the remainder of the year.
The Olympics was always going to be a part of Walsh Jennings’ legacy. Born Aug. 15, 1978, in Santa Clara, Calif., Walsh Jennings was part of an athletic family. Her father played minor league baseball and her mother was a talented volleyball player at Santa Clara University.
Walsh Jennings played volleyball at Stanford and made her Olympic debut at the 2000 Sydney Olympics as part of the U.S. indoor volleyball team. She would graduate from Stanford in 2001. Later that year she first paired with May-Treanor and began their dynasty on the beach.
She’s also had as much success off the beach as she’s had on it. She was married in 2005 to Casey Jennings, a top US men’s volleyball player. The couple had their first child, Joseph Michael Jennings, in May 2009 and their second child, Sundance Thomas, the following May.
Just when we thought her story was ending, she keeps adding new chapters.