Ana Patricia Ramos & Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda) triumphed as the Paris 2024 Olympic champions in women’s beach volleyball and brought Brazil back to the top of the Olympic podium for the first time since Sandra Pires & Jackie Silva claimed the inaugural gold at Atlanta 1996. The Olympic title was the last missing laurel in Ana Patricia & Duda’s showcase, but now it shines next to the duo’s 2022 FIVB Beach Volleyball Championship crown, 2014 Youth Olympic title, two U21 World Championship titles and multiple trophies on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

In the first-ever three-set final in the history of women’s Olympic beach volleyball, the number one team in the FIVB World Ranking and bracket leaders at Paris 2024 lived up to their status and achieved a 2-1 (26-24, 12-21, 15-10) victory over fourth-seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, who had to settle for silver, their country’s first-ever medal in women’s Olympic beach volleyball and second overall, after John Child & Mark Heese took the men’s bronze at beach volleyball’s maiden Olympic appearance at Atlanta 1996.

The first set was the brightest jewel of Friday evening’s final. Melissa & Brandie came out strong and stormed the match on an 8-2 run. Ana Patricia & Duda gradually found their rhythm and started chipping off their lag point by point. A four-point series after 17-14 finally put them a point in front. That prompted an exciting ending of the set that was pushed deep into overtime. Canada denied three Brazilian set points and wasted two of their own before Duda pulled off a “Ludwig” for the 26-24 winner. After 10-9 Ana Patricia & Duda’s way in the second set, Melissa & Brandie broke away with four points in a row and never looked back. They were the single masters of the court through the end of the set to win it by 21-12 and level the match. The Brazilian team regained control at the start of the tie-breaker and never let it go, expanding their lead to a 15-10 close that came on Ana Patricia’s block-out hit for the winning point, and setting off a huge Brazilian party on the stands of the Eiffel Tower Stadium.

Ana Patricia contributed 23 points to her pair’s victory. Her tally included three kill blocks. Duda added 21 points, including one ace, while Brandie produced a match-high 30 points. Ana Patricia & Duda completed a victorious run through the Olympic tournament, in which they won all seven of their matches in Paris, dropping only two sets along the way.

“We tried to imagine what it would be like to win the Olympic title, but we had no idea. We can’t even describe what we are feeling yet. It’s very special, a dream come true!” Ana Patricia told the FIVB after the medal ceremony.

“I believe that I am the Olympic champion only because I have the medal. It’s incredible to win the Olympic medal 10 years after we won the Youth Olympic gold,” Duda added. “It has been many years since the previous Olympic gold for Brazil, but we should look at our own work. We are very grateful to those who wrote history, but now we have to think about writing our history. I told Pati she will be my last partner and we will one day retire together.”

“It's incredible. I think every athlete wishes to be in a position where they can get a gold medal, to be in the finals, because it takes so much hard work to even just get to this place,” said Brandie. “We are still hungry for that gold medal, because we're competitors and because we know we belong in that spot just as equally as our fellows, the Brazilians. We continue to bring out the best in each other and we are looking forward to playing them again. But for now we'll take the silver medal with us with our heads held high, because it's going to make a difference and have ripple effect for Canada to know that we are one of the best in the world at this sport.”

“It's taking care of the opportunities you have. It's taking risks when you have to, and it's managing the momentum,” Melissa stated. “You know, it was a momentum game and you can't ever take your foot off the gas. People are going to be coming, they're going to be your opponents and are there for a reason. They're there to push you. They challenge you until you're going to respond. So I think, we let too many sideout opportunities slip and then we had some opportunities to get them back, and we didn't take advantage of those. It happens. I mean, that's the game of volleyball, that's a sport.”

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results

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