Tokyo Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Alix Klineman announced on social media on Monday she is retiring from the sport, about three weeks after her “A-Team” partner April Ross said she is moving on. They will play their final event together at the AVP League championship in Carson, California. Ross, 42, led Southern California to back-to-back NCAA championships in indoor volleyball before switching to the beach.
She won a silver medal at the London Games, bronze in Rio and gold with Klineman in Tokyo. She had a son last year and was married in September. “It is with a very fulfilled and grateful heart, and also some tears, that I am announcing my retirement,” Ross posted on Instagram last month .
“I’m glad I can say I lived it to the fullest and that it was an absolute BLAST. At the same time, I’m in disbelief it’s (almost) over, it feels like it went by in a heartbeat.” A four-time All-American at Stanford in indoor volleyball, the 34-year-old Klineman switched to the beach in 2017 and joined Ross to win the gold medal in Tokyo , her only Olympic experience.
In her retirement video, she recited an open letter to the sport of volleyball, saying her focus had changed since having a son, Theo, last year. “It’s no longer just about you, volleyball. It’s not about me, either.
It’s about my family. It’s about my priorities. And they’re different now,” she said.
“I thought I could do both — be a mom and play. ..
. But I can’t do both the .