(RightIsRight.co) – For the first time in almost 30 years, the U.S. suffered a shocking defeat in volleyball, as the beach volleyball team left the Olympic Games without a medal.
This week, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh fell short in the quarterfinals against Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, losing 21-14, 21-16. This marks the first time since beach volleyball was added to the Olympics in 1996 that no American volleyball team has won a medal.
Partain and Benesh were the last hope for the U.S., with both the women’s teams and the other men’s team already out of the tournament.
“I wish one of our teams did (win a medal),” Partain said. “We did the best we could.”
Moreover, Benesh suggested that the lack of American medals might not be due to a drop in the team’s performance but rather to the overall improvement in global play.
“It’s a little bit different than it was 20 years ago. There’s a lot of competition around the world,” Benesh stated. “As a fan of beach volleyball it’s fun to watch, people are playing with different styles in men’s and women’s (competition).”
At the Eiffel Tower Stadium, the American duo was leading 12-11 in the first set but allowed the Qataris to pull ahead due to some careless mistakes. Younousse and Tijan thrilled the night crowd with their creative moves.
“Qatar played really well,” Benesh said. “We just didn’t execute as well as them.”
In addition, the Qatari team is hoping to surpass its performance in Tokyo three years ago, when it won bronze, marking 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 asserted. “It’s an amazing opportunity to play here in front of the Eiffel Tower with this amazing atmosphere.”
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