BEIJING — American beach volleyball player Jake Gibb stood in the mix zone at the Olympic beach volleyball venue, finally under cover from the rain.
"Was it raining?" he said dryly. "Didn't even notice it."
Just
then, a drip of water fell from the brim of the soaking wet ballcap he
turned forward to adapt to the messy conditions for his Olympic debut,
when he and partner Sean Rosenthal beat Emiel Boersma and Bram Ronnes
of the Netherlands 21-16, 21-15.
"We've played in rain, but not that bad," Rosenthal said. "It's my first Olympics. So if it's snowing, raining, I don't care."
A
pelting rain, with intermittent lightning and thunder, drenched the
Chaoyang Park venue and turned the stands into a sea of yellow ponchos
on Sunday, dampening the spring-break atmosphere that tends to
accompany most beach volleyball events. Although there were only 1,200
officially in the 12,000-seat arena for the Americans' match, it was
impressive that anyone was actually there.
"I think it was amazing," said Gibb,
who noted that the partners were so eager to play that they went out
early to warm up on a practice court in spite of the weather. "The
people in the stands that stayed were super loud."
The duo is the United States' No. 2-ranked team and will return to action Tuesday night at Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.
Gibb is a Mormon; a Bountiful, Utah, native; University of Utah graduate; and resident of Costa Mesa, Calif.
Gibb and Rosenthal were among U.S. players who met Saturday with President George W. Bush.
Beach
volleyball matches typically proceed despite rain, but U.S. event
organizers will clear the stands in the case of lightning. Olympic
protocol is similar, but a venue official said the lightning was too
brief to merit a delay or postponement.
Rosenthal said that
because the ball was wet, he had to bump set instead of doing it over
his head. The rain also took away any chance of putting spin on a
spike; the ball had to be hit straight-on or it would slide off their
hands.
"When you look up, it pelts you in the eyes," he said.
"But it's beach volleyball: we have to play the elements. Sometimes
it's howling wind."
The top-ranked American women's team, Kerri
Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, also won their opener, needing just 36
minutes to beat Mika Teru Saiki and Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan 21-12,
21-15 in Sunday's morning session.