3-Time U.S. Olympic Champion Fails To Qualify For Tokyo

Volleyball legend Kerri Walsh Jennings, one of the most accomplished American Olympians, will not participate at this year’s Tokyo Games. The three-time gold medalist failed to qualify for the event.

Walsh Jennings and partner Brooke Sweat lost in a qualifying match on Wednesday in the Czech Republic. The pair needed to finish in at least third place to pass another American duo, Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes.

“It’s been a really rough year, and to lose in a qualifier, it feels really hard right now,” she said after the loss, per the Associated Press. “It’s a really hard day for us, so I think we’ll feel the pain.”

Walsh Jennings had her sixth shoulder surgery earlier this year, and Sweat is coming off of a knee surgery in 2020. Still, it will be jarring to see this year’s beach volleyball event without one of the faces of Team USA present.

Kerri Walsh Jennings formed a formidable duo with Misty May-Treanor, winning gold in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics in Athens, Beijing, and London, respectively. The duo also won three world championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007. They’re commonly called the greatest team in beach volleyball history.

After May-Treanor’s retirement in 2012, Walsh Jennings teamed up with April Ross from 2013-17, winning Bronze in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Ross has moved on to play with Alix Klineman on the current top U.S. team.

The Summer Olympics, which were originally set to be held in 2020, are scheduled to begin in Tokyo on Friday, July 23, and will run through Sunday, August 8.

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