PARIS — Brazil won a tense, three-set final to claim the women’s beach volleyball gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Friday night, finishing off the Canadians following a nose-to-nose confrontation at the net that needed the intervention of the referee — and the Eiffel Tower Stadium DJ.
Ana Patrícia and Duda rallied from an 11-5 deficit to take the first-to-21, win-by-two first set 26-24, and Canada won the second 21-12. Brazil opened up a 12-7 lead in the first-to-15 tiebreaker when, after a joust at the net, Brandie Wilkerson and Ana Patrícia began pointing fingers at each other.
The second referee, the one at sand level, moved out to separate the two players, but Wilkerson continued to argue; she was shown a yellow card. As the Brazilians got into position to serve for the next point, the DJ began playing John Lennon’s “Imagine,” its lyrics calling for unity and peace.
The players laughed, and the Canadians also clapped in approval. The crowd applauded and then began singing along. (Wilkerson told reporters afterward that it was a misunderstanding: She was responding to her family, cheering in the crowd behind the Brazilians, and Ana Patrícia thought Wilkerson was taunting her.)
And when play resumed, it took Brazil only five more points to finish off Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, kicking off a beach party the sport’s spiritual home hadn’t seen since hosting the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games at Copacabana. In Tokyo, the country was shut out at the Summer Games for the first time since beach volleyball was added to the program in 1996.
Three years later, Brazil not only returned to the podium but climbed to its top step.
With the Eiffel Tower’s strobes sparking in the background, the Brazilians were awarded their first women’s gold since Atlanta. (The United States, which had won four of the last five, was shut out in both the men’s and women’s tournaments in Paris.)
After the medal ceremony, the Canadians and Brazilians — along with the bronze-winning Swiss — posed for selfies together. Wilkerson and Duda spoke to each other and hugged; there may have even been an air kiss.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes will return to Canada with the country’s first beach volleyball medal since the men won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games. That team was coached by Humana-Paredes’ father.
Switzerland beat Australia in straight sets in the third-place game earlier Friday night to earn the bronze medal.
Nina Brunner and Tanja Huerberli beat Tokyo silver medalists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar 21-17, 21-15 in 39 minutes. It was the second Summer Games in a row that a Swiss team took the bronze medal, coming three years after Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré placed third in Tokyo.
On the men’s side, Sweden was set to face Germany for gold on Saturday night, with Norway and Qatar playing for the bronze.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
