LONDON — Kerri Walsh denies her pink eye was a factor, but last night the amazing American beach volleyball duo finally looked vulnerable at an Olympics.
With Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and James Harden cheering from the sidelines, history was made at the historic Horse Guards Parade landmark. Walsh and Misty May-Treanor dropped their first-ever set at the Olympics Games to break their streak of 32 consecutive set wins.
But the SoCal duo rallied from a set down to take out an industrious Austrian sister pair, Stefanie Schwaiger and Doris Schwaiger, 18-21, 21-18, 15-10, to end their pool-play run at 3-0 before about 15,000 fans.
The US tandem, unbeaten in Olympic play as it vies for its third straight gold medal, vowed a week ago it would try to wear its bikinis for night matches if the weather stayed warm. The London weather was spiking in the 80’s last week.
But the climate has turned chilly and rain fell periodically last night, proving too rough for Walsh and May-Treanor to don bikinis. With the match starting at 11:30 p.m. London time, they each covered up in all-black sweatsuits.
“We didn’t play to our best,’’ May-Treanor said. “but we stuck together through thick and thin. You want to win in straight sets but a victory is a victory.’’
Walsh said the duo came out “flat’’ as they fell behind 7-1, but she believes the new wardrobe and pink eye was not the cause. Walsh takes eyedrops once a day and said she looks worse than she feels.
“It looks terrible,’’ Walsh said. “I don’t need any help not looking cute, but it’s truly nothing.’’
May-Treanor said she’s taking precautions because of the illness’ contagiousness. Their sleeping patterns could affect them more as neither gets to bed before 3:30 a.m. after their late-night matches. “I wash my hands,’’ she said. “You just got to be careful.’’
NBC wanted the female star duo to play late-night London matches to coincide with US prime time, but the new outfits aren’t exactly ratings spikers. In its first match, the American duo wore bikini bottoms with shirts. Last night the only skin came from the Austrians, who played in pink bikini bottoms, and the cheerleaders in bathing suits.
“We probably can,’’ May-Treanor said of playing in swimsuits. “But you get the cool breeze and want to stay warm. It’s just a comfort level. If they say you have to take your clothes off and play in our bathing suits, we could, but for us, it’s nice to feel warmer.’’
Said Walsh, “It’s late at night and it’s a little chilly. We need to keep our muscles warm. We’re sweating and the wind picks up our sweat during the timeouts.’’
The chill didn’t prevent Anthony from attending. “You can really see Team USA supports,’’ May-Treanor said. “It’s nice to see the basketball players come out to our event. That’s what you want to see in the Olympics.’’
With Big Ben hovering blocks away, the clock bell can be heard amidst the crowd din.
“The crowd’s energy is radiating from our venue,’’ May-Treanor said. “There’s so much history. We played at the Eiffel Tower, which was neat. But to actually have to get permission from [the royal] family to play on their land, that’s pretty cool and to have the horses with the guardsmen, cooler.’’