Misty May-Treanor Advances To Beach Volleyball Olympic Final Event

Misty May-Treanor, 35, and her longtime teammate Kerri Walsh, 33, have returned for their third and final volleyball Olympic gold medal after winning twice before in both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics in Athens and Beijing, respectively. This time, however, after beating China in a not-so-close semifinals match on Tuesday, May-Treanor and Walsh will go against fellow Americans April Ross, 30, and Jennifer Kessy, 35, who won their semifinal 2-1 against Brazil on Tuesday.

Whether May-Treanor and Walsh will nab the gold or not, this will officially be the dynamic duo’s last visit to the Olympics together, with May-Treanor wanting to retire. And neither intends to go down to relative newcomers Ross and Kessy, who started playing pairs together in 2007, three years after Walsh and May-Treanor had won their first Olympic gold medal in Athens.

In three Olympic events playing pairs, Walsh and May-Treanor have only lost one set. It’s “really heavy, in a beautiful way,” Walsh says about the fact that such an unparalleled partnership with May-Treanor is coming to an end. “We just want to go out on top, then cry all we want.”

If Walsh and May-Treanor pull it off, they’ll go out just the way they want to. Otherwise, the only question that remains is if a defeat from another U.S. team would soften the blow.

Watch Uinterview’s exclusive with volleyball Olympian Jennifer Kessy here:

For more on the 2012 London Olympics:

U.S. Olympic Volleyball Players Misty May-Treanor And Kerry Walsh Make Comeback

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Volleyball Player Jennifer Kessy On Trying Out Swimming

U.S. Olympic Swimmer And Aurora, Colorado Native Missy Franklin On Winning Gold: ‘Pinch Me’

U.S. Olympic Gymnast McKayla Maroney

Olympics Slideshow: Kerri Walsh

Misty May-Treanor Wants To Be On ‘Dancing with the Stars: All Stars’