Stunning Beach Volleyball Semi-finals set up an all-European Olympic Final in Paris 2024
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Germany and Sweden will fight for the Beach Volleyball Gold Olympic Medal in Paris on 10th August, when Ehlers/Wickler and Ahman/Hellvig respectively, will get on the court under the lights of the Eiffel Tower. Norway, through the Beach Volley Vikings on the men's side, Mol/Sorum and Switzerland, through reigning European Champs, Huberli/Brunner on the women's side, were defeated in the semis but can yet get a hold on valuable Bronze medals for themselves and for their countries
The Germans Ehlers/Wickler really had a magical evening for themselves, upsetting Norway's reigning Olympic Champions and putting an end to their quest of retaining the title. This was the first ever win for the Germans against the Vikings and what a way to do it. An amazing three-sets match (2-1; 21-13, 17-21, 15-13) that was a true definition of persistency from the Germans and excellence especially for the "big man" Ehlers, scorer of 30 points on the night, seconded beautifully by his teammate.
Ehlers via the FIVB“It's unbelievable! It's a dream coming true! We always focused on this, every day, every hard training we did in the last years, it was our goal. It's so amazing to get it, to make it happen in front of this crowd at this venue. So many German fans, our families, and friends, everybody saw us. It's just unbelievable!"
In the other semi-final, Ahman & Hellvig cam prepared to not repeat the mistakes they made in the pool phase when they lost to the team from Qatar in three sets. It was never going to be easy and it was not easy by any means, yet somehow they made it look easy! The "Flying Swedes" keep pushing the boundaries of the sport and are delivering more than what is expected of them, including a guaranteed first medal in beach volleyball for Sweden after an emphatic straight sets win in an Olympic semi-final (2-0;21-13, 21-17).
Ahman via the FIVB“I can't really believe it, but we're in the final. It will take some time to realize that we made it,” added Hellvig. “If someone told us a few years ago that we would be in a final, I don't think anyone would believe that. We have done it. It has been an incredible journey over the last few years and now we're super proud that we made it to the final.”
Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli & Nina Brunner were so close to getting into the women's final in Paris. Denied a match point in the second set, the Swiss couldn't put their foot on the gas hard enough in the tie-breaker (2-1; 14-21, 22-20, 15-12), not the result they would've hoped for, but it's not all over. The pair will enter the Eiffel Tower Arena tonight for one last time hoping they can leave the Olympics carrying the bronze medals.
