PARIS (AP) — Jump-setting Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig aren't the types to take their time. The beach volleyball pioneers were the No. 1 team in the world by 22, an age when many of their competitors were still learning the fundamentals in the indoor game.
And when they made the final at their first Olympics, they didn't wait long to claim the gold medal. Ahman and Hellvig dispatched Germany in 36 minutes to win the men's beach volleyball championship at the Paris Games on Saturday night, beating Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler 21-10, 21-13 in the final competition at the Eiffel Tower Stadium . One night after the Brazilian women beat for gold Canada in a tense three-setter, the men's championship was completely lacking in suspense.
It was the second-fastest match of the men's competition and the biggest blowout (not counting the one injury forfeit), and it was in the most important game of the Summer Games. But all that did was give the Swedish fans in the crowd a head start on the party. With faces painted in yellow and blue, the Swedes waved flags and chanted in Swedish for the first Olympic beach volleyball medal in the nation's history.
When it was over, the venue DJ cranked up the ABBA and the crowd of 13,000 under the twinkling lights of the iconic Parisian landmark sang along. Mamma Mia, indeed. The Swedes used an innovative style to reach the finals of seven consecutive major international tournaments, propelling them this spring to No.
1 in the world rankings. The “Swedish jump-set” keeps opponents off-guard with a “jump-set” on the second touch, forcing them to defend against a pass and a spike at the same time. On set point on Saturday night, Ahman sent a second-touch kill shot into the corner for the game winner.
The silver for Germany is its first beach volleyball medal since the country swept the men’s and women’s golds at the 2012 London Games. Earlier, defending Olympic champion Norway beat Qatar for bronze — a proud medal haul for Scandinavian countries known more for snow than sand . In the women’s bracket, Brazil won gold one Olympiad after the sport’s spiritual home was shut out for the first time since beach volleyball was added to the Summer Games in 1996.
No such luck for the Americans , who won seven of the first 12 gold medals on the sand: They were shut out for the first time in history. Earlier Saturday, Norway beat Qatar in the men’s beach volleyball bronze medal match, the second medal-winning Olympics in a row for Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. The defending gold medalists won 21-13, 21-16 over Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, who won the bronze medal in Tokyo.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.
