USA/FILE: BEACH VOLLEYBALL - The women's pair of Jen Kessy and April Ross want to make it an American 1-2 finish on the sands of Horse Guards at London 2012
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330729
USA/FILE: BEACH VOLLEYBALL - The women's pair of Jen Kessy and April Ross want to make it an American 1-2 finish on the sands of Horse Guards at London 2012
- Title: USA/FILE: BEACH VOLLEYBALL - The women's pair of Jen Kessy and April Ross want to make it an American 1-2 finish on the sands of Horse Guards at London 2012
- Date: 25th May 2012
- Summary: DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (RECENT-MAY 16, 2012) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN BEACH VOLLEYBALLER APRIL ROSS SAYING: "We just want to meet them [Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh] in the finals. I mean you don't, you can't wish for your country mates to not do well, but at the same time we want to do the best. We want to do better than them, and the best we can hope for is to see them and beat them in the finals!" AMERICAN BEACH VOLLEYBALLER JEN KESSY SAYING: "Well, they want the same thing. They do. They've talked about us being in the finals with them. That's definitely a goal. And for our boys, it's the same thing." KESSY LOOKING AT TEAM USA BEACH TOWEL WITH OLYMPIC RINGS
- Embargoed: 9th June 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany, Usa
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVADOS31GWAU3XK4N6E4XP4WAYB7
- Story Text: For the American beach volleyball duo of Jen Kessy and April Ross, the memory of Beijing was not a happy one, despite the U.S. coming away with both gold medals in the men's and women's competition.
In 2008, the pair was ranked in the top ten in the world and at the Olympics the top 16-teams qualify. However, Kessy and Ross were only third in the U.S. and each country sends just two teams. So the two Southern California girls couldn't even bare to watch as their friends Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh defended their Olympic title.
Instead the disappointment was a galvanizing moment that helped them change things around.
"It was more about us not accomplishing a goal that we knew that we could accomplish," the 29-year old Ross told Reuters at the Team USA media summit in Dallas.
"So we really felt like we needed to look at everything that we were doing as far as diet, and fitness, and coaching, and skills. We really dissected everything and changed a lot, I think," she explained.
The changes worked and the pair, who first teamed up in 2007, went from down in the dumps to top of the world in 2009 with a win at the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) World Championsips in Stavanger, Norway.
Since then Kessy and Ross have remained in the top five of the rankings with focus on one thing.
"It's the gold medal at the Olympics for sure. You know, you can say that World Championships is the same, but we've talked to a bunch of Olympians who said 'don't think that it's the same - it's not the same'. The Olympics is such a . . . on a bigger scale, such a bigger beast . . . in the U.S., it's all about the Olympics," said the 34-year old Kessy.
Now the fifth ranked team will join defending Olympic champs May-Treanor and Walsh -- currently third in the world -- to represent the U.S. at London and play at venue with which they're already familiar.
"I think that it's just more memorable, and to be in such a historic location for us, I mean I think we have the best venue of any venue at the Olympics," Ross described of the beach volleyball venue at Horse Guards Parade Ground.
"We haven't seen any of the other ones, but we're pretty sure that we have the best. We know we have the best location!" joked Kessy.
The team played at the test event in 2011 and enjoyed what they saw.
"To be so close to Buckingham Palace and Downing Street, and it's just, I need to read up on the history because I don't even know it all, but I always tell people the coolest place I've played is under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and now this might overtake that, you know, so it's going to be super memorable," said Ross.
In the ideal American scenario Kessy and Ross will play the defending champs for the gold medal.
"We just want to meet them [Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh] in the finals. I mean you don't, you can't wish for your country mates to not do well, but at the same time we want to do the best. We want to do better than them, and the best we can hope for is to see them and beat them in the finals!" explained Ross.
"They want the same thing. They do. They've talked about us being in the finals with them. That's definitely a goal," said Kessy about their fellow Southern California girls.
However, heading into their first Olympics, Kessy and Ross know the rankings don't matter with strong teams from Brazil, China and Germany.
"We like that role, we like the underdogs, we want to be the underdogs and fight for what we want," said Ross.
The Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament starts on the second day of the Olympics on July 28th at Horse Guards. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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