Team USA basketball stars serenaded Kerri Walsh Jennings with ‘Happy Birthday’

Team USA’s beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings kicked off her 38th birthday with a midnight win over Australia and a serenade Sunday night.

Defenders on social media were quick to point out that not only has Walsh Jennings been playing in long sleeves during her nighttime matches when the temperatures have been low, but that there is also inherent sexism in critiquing her body and uniform.

“I actually didn’t notice them until I heard them cheering in the middle of rallies”, said Ross.

Walsh Jennings and Ross defeated the Australian pair 21-14 and 21-16 in their quarter-final on Monday morning. But Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai in white were clearly the better team and closed the match out in two sets despite a late run from Carambula and his partner Alex Ranghieri (21-12, 23-21). Beach volleyball is a major sport in Brazil, Rio especially, and Copacabana Beach is its spiritual home here.

“The crowd was the third player”, Larissa said.

The Americans will play Brazil’s Agatha and Barbara – the defending world champions – on Tuesday, with the victor advancing to the gold medal match. But I think everything will work out because she’s in the right.

She was criticized earlier this week because she said she was “born to have babies and play volleyball”. “They deserved to win, but we gave them a really, really hard win”. She won three consecutive gold medals with her teammate Misty May-Treanor, but is fighting for one more.

1994: Kosuke Hagino, Japanese swimmer who won gold in the 400m individual medley this summer in Rio. “The program doesn’t have the history that the American and Brazilian programs have”.