Miles Partain and Andy Benesh couldn’t stop the losing streak, so the United States is leaving beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics without a medal for the first time.
Their loss, 21-14, 21-16, to the Qatari team of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, marks the first time the US has failed to win a medal since beach volleyball was added to the Olympics in 1996.
Partain and Benesh were the last hopes for an American medal, as both women’s teams and the other men’s team were already out of the tournament.
“I wish one of our teams did (win a medal),” Partain said. “We did the best we could.”
Benesh noted that the lack of American medals was not necessarily due to a drop in the team’s performance, but because the level of competition worldwide has increased.
“It’s a little bit different than it was 20 years ago. There’s a lot of competition around the world,” Benesh said. “As a fan of beach volleyball it’s fun to watch, people are playing with different styles in men’s and women’s (competition).”
The American pair was ahead 12-11 in the first set at Eiffel Tower Stadium, but some mistakes allowed the Qatari team to pull ahead. Younousse and Tijan impressed the crowd with their creative plays.
“Qatar played really well,” Benesh said. “We just didn’t execute as well as them.”
The Qatari team still has a chance to improve on their performance from the Tokyo Games, where their bronze was the first Olympic medal in beach volleyball for any Middle Eastern country.
“We are living our dream. We don’t have any expectations, we are just dreaming,” Younousse said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to play here in front of the Eiffel Tower with this amazing atmosphere.”
Defending men’s champions Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sorum of Norway also shone under the lights. They won 21-16, 21-17, beating Pablo Herrera Allepuz, a silver medalist from the 2004 Athens Games, and Adrian Gavira Collado of Spain.
Mol displayed some soccer skills that his fellow countryman Erling Haaland might admire, saving a seemingly lost point with a clever flick of his right foot. The ball went up, and Soerum won the point, then hugged Mol.
Norway won the first set when Mol made a smart block at the net. Soerum’s spike at the net then secured the match as a cool breeze brought relief to fans after some intense heat in Paris. Mol celebrated with a stunning backflip, while Sorum opted for a funny-looking backward roll.
They will play against the German team of Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers in the semifinals on Thursday, while the Qatari team will face the Swedish jump-set experts David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.
In the women’s quarterfinals earlier on Wednesday, the top-ranked Brazilian team of Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa defeated Anastasija Samoilova and Tina Graudina of Latvia with scores of 21-16, 21-10.
The Brazilians dropped to their knees and hugged each other after winning on their second match point when Samoilova’s serve hit the net.
“It was difficult to read their serve, there was a lot of variation,” Silva Ramos said through a translator. “But we recovered well.”
The Latvian team had taken a 6-0 lead over the Brazilians early on, but it didn’t last.
“Obviously they are better than that as a team, and brought it back to their level,” Graudina said.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson from Canada made it to the semifinals by beating Daniela Alvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva from Spain with scores of 21-18, 21-18.
Canada won a close first set when Moreno Matveeva served long. After securing the match on their second match point, the Canadians went under the net and celebrated in front of a few flag-waving fans.
In Thursday’s semifinals, the Brazilians will play against the Australian team of Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, who won silver at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Meanwhile, the Canadians will compete against Nina Brunner and Tanja Hueberli from Switzerland.
