Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are getting older
For the first time in their three Olympics volleyball years, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings lost the first set against Austria Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Misty May-Treanor and Walsh lost 21-17 in the match against Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger.
According to WAFB Channel Nine, the pair won seven volleyball matches in a row in Athens and at their second Olympics together, Misty May-Treanor and Walsh won a gold medal each in Beijing.
And in London this time, they won their first two matches.
But Misty May-Treanor and Walsh were not the only pair to have lost a long winning streak. Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley of the Australian volleyball team lost to a Czech team of two.
Cook expressed her gratitude for progressing as far she has.
“There are 10,000 athletes in the world every four years (at the Olympics) and I’ve done that five times. I couldn’t be prouder of that,” she said.
Before their loss, Walsh prepared herself with: “We’re strong. We’re fit. We’re healthy. We’re fast. And we’re determined. So, watch out…we’re ready. In every single way, we’re ready.”
BleacherReport contributor Jesse Reed wrote that Misty May-Treanor and Walsh are pushing past their prime years and that “it is unreasonable to expect that they should be able to keep up with the new generation of star beach volleyball players.”
Reed believes that every athlete faces a decline along with declined physical strength.
