Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; Brazil’s Eduarda Santos Lisboa (2) and Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva Ramos (1) during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports
PARIS — Brazilians Ana Patricia Ramos and Duda Lisboa defeated Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson 2-1 to win Olympic gold in women’s beach volleyball at the iconic venue in front of the Eiffel Tower on Friday.
In the bronze medal match, Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner defeated Australia’s Tokyo silver medalists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy in straight sets.
With the bright lights of Paris’ most famous landmark as the perfect backdrop and music blaring in the temporary arena between each point, Brazil’s women won their second gold medal in the sport and their first since 1996 in Atlanta, when beach volleyball made its debut at the Games.
Duda was speechless.
“I’m so, so happy I can’t believe this happened,” she said.
Although the roaring Brazilian fans dressed in golden yellow outnumbered the Canadians, it was the North American duo who took a 13-7 lead before Ramos thrilled the crowd with two consecutive blocks at the net.
Duda and Ramos are the world’s top-ranked duo and underlined their credentials as favourites with a superlative performance and a roaring crowd behind them, while Canada also took home their first medal in the sport.
Even when tempers flared at one point in the deciding set, the DJ played John Lennon’s “Imagine” to calm things down as the crowd sang along and the athletes smiled and carried on before Brazil prevailed 26-24 12-21 15-10.
Switzerland won bronze with a 21-17, 21-15 victory over Australia.
–Reuters, special for field media
