As soon as the gold medal match at the London Olympics ended, Kerri Walsh Jennings went up and hugged opponent April Ross. During that hug, she whispered the goal for the next four years:
“At the net, she said, ‘Let’s go win gold in Rio,’” Ross told John Branch of the New York Times.
After winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals, rising to international stardom and historically dominating the sport for nearly a decade with parter Misty May-Treanor, 37-year-old Walsh Jennings has found continued success with Ross. Ross, 34, is a powerful six-foot-1 athlete who has both size and quickness as she patrols the court defensively behind Walsh Jennings.