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Upset at the beach Blanton, Fonoimoana give U.S. another beach gold
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) - The U.S. is two for two in men's beach volleyball at the Olympics. Americans Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana followed up fellow Americans Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes' 1996 gold medal with one of their own. The duo upset third-seeded Ze Marco de Melo and Ricardo Santos of Brazil 12-11, 12-9 on Tuesday. "It's unbelievable," Blanton said of the victory. "The only way we played that well was to play against a team that good. "This is the most amazing moment of my life." With U.S. supporters waving flags, Blanton and Fonoimoana received their medals from IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, then clasped hands on the podium and waved to the crowd. Fonoimoana softly mouthed the words to the U.S. anthem, and afterward they draped themselves in U.S. flags while slowly walking the perimeter of the court to shake hands with fans.
Their victory in the rain Tuesday brought an explosion of cheers at the sold-out Bondi Beach stadium, with fans chanting "U-S-A" as the Americans collapsed in each other's arms. It was a bitter defeat for the Brazilians, who won three medals -- the silver and bronze in women's and the men's silver -- but failed to grab the top prize in a sport they have dominated in recent years. The Americans came from behind to beat De Melo and Santos in the first set. Then they forged a 4-1 lead in the second game and never trailed despite desperate comeback efforts by the Brazilians in a match that featured frantic rallies, with bodies diving in the wet sand. With De Melo waving for the crowd to cheer even louder, he and Santos fought back to 10-9 before Fonoimoana's shot went off Santos for a point, setting up Blanton to serve for the gold. The crowd was on its feet as Blanton served to De Melo, who passed to Santos and back to De Melo for a spike. Fonoimoana rose to block it back, and the Americans had the decisive point. In the bronze medal game, Germany's Jorg Ahmann and Axel Hager completed an unlikely run to an Olympic medal, defeating Luis Maia and Joao Brenha of Portugal 12-9, 12-6. Rain and low, gray clouds forced spectators to wear raincoats, but the cheering remained loud and steady. After a stirring comeback victory in the semifinal over Maia and Brenha, Blanton and Fonoimoana pulled off a similar recovery in the first game of the final. Strong net play by Santos, with several blocks for kills, gave the Brazilians leads of 4-1, 8-6 and 11-8, but the Americans kept pulling even. With lightning reflexes, Blanton reached Santos' smash, sending the ball back too deep for the Brazilians to get and making the score 11-9. Fonoimoana then blocked De Melo at the net to bring the Americans within one. The serve changed sides before Santos failed to handle Fonoimoana's serve to even the score at 11, bringing an eruption of noise from the chanting, dancing U.S. fans. De Melo then fired a spike wide, giving the Americans a 12-11 victory and setting off another burst of cheering. Ahmann and Hager, seeded 15th, relied on the 6-foot-9 Hager's dominating net play to overpower the Portuguese, who lost the bronze medal match for the second straight Olympics. Before the gold medal game, Fonoimoana said the Brazilians would feel more pressure because of the expectations of fans in a country where volleyball is the second most popular sport after soccer. The Brazilians were clear favorites, coming in with a 4-0 record against Blanton and Fonoimoana, including two victories in July tournaments. De Melo and Santos won five tournaments this year and have reached the final four in 27 of 39 international events. By comparison, Blanton and Fonoimoana have reached the semifinals in five of their 23 internationals.
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