On the last day of the Olympic beach volleyball trials, top-seeded Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes took the last spot on the men's team Sunday by pounding Adam Johnson and injured partner Randy Stoklos 15-3.
The women's final match featured a confrontation of ex-partners, and Gail Castro and Deb Richardson secured the last slot on the U.S. team by outlasting Elaine Roque and Dennie Shupryt-Knoop, 15-13. Castro played with Roque for three years on the women's pro tour while Richardson and Shrupryt-Knoop played together for 11/2 years.The men's and women's Olympic Beach Volleyball in Atlanta will each feature three U.S. teams.
Kiraly and Steffes will join Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, who qualified Saturday by beating them. Barbra Fontana Harris and Linda Hanley qualified this weekend along with Castro and Richardson.
In addition, results from the international FIVB circuit gained berths for Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel for the men, and Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno for the women.
Stoklos sprained his ankle during a warm-up before Saturday's match against Dodd and Whitmarsh and it was heavily taped Sunday.
When informed of Stoklos' injury Saturday, Steffes curtly replied, "Good. Maybe he broke it." Given the chance today, Steffes did not retract or amend his statement.
Stoklos said the ankle was not painful during Sunday's match but that it significantly limited his jumping and mobility.
"I heard what he had said. That's just Kent Steffes," said Stoklos, 36, who saw his only chance at the Olympics disappear. "I don't know what kind of tact he has. Maybe in the future when he will grow up he will find that every dog has its day."
Kiraly is strongly opposed to the automatic bids awarded to Smith and Henkel.
Castro and Richardson needed five match points to put away their former partners after rallying from a 4-8 deficit. The top two seeds in the women's bracket were eliminated in the preliminary round.