May-Walsh get their perfect ending, a third gold medal

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh did the impossible Wednesday at the beach volleyball venue. It wasn't that they won their third consecutive Olympic gold medal after splitting up, getting injured and having two babies (Walsh was responsible for that).
That's all quite impressive, but that's not their truly remarkable achievement of these Games. No, that would be something far grander, cutting to the very essence of their sport, to be remembered long after they have hung up their bikinis:

These two made us take beach volleyball seriously.
n the last match they said they'll ever play together, May-Treanor and Walsh won that third gold medal when they defeated fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 at beautiful Horse Guards Parade.

They end their Olympic run with a 21-0 record, stretching from Athens in 2004 through Beijing in 2008 to, finally, London.

Even Michael Phelps lost a race or two in his Olympic career. Not these two.

Beach volleyball players look to be having too much fun to be working as hard as other Olympic athletes, but talk to a couple of the foes vanquished by the greatest Olympic beach volleyball duo ever and it's interesting how quickly real, raw sport intrudes in the conversation.

"They really squashed us," Ross said.

"They are the best team of all time," Kessy added. "It doesn't feel too bad being second to them right now. I don't even know if they made any mistakes."

A few moments later, May-Treanor and Walsh came along to meet with news reporters and were told that Kessy had said they were basically perfect.

"You could tell us that on our best day, and we'd still disagree," May-Treanor said.

"Yeah," Walsh said, looking at her partner, "but what would you say, like truly? I'd give me a B."

"Like a B-plus," May-Treanor said.

"She played amazing," Walsh said. "That's why it's a great partnership."