KERRI WALSH AND MISTY MAY: BEACH VOLLEYBALL OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS

Hi friends!! Let’s change gears and let’s go back into sports again. Imagine the scenario and try to guess the place: a sunny day, a cheering crowd, a sandy court, a volleyball net and four people trying to pass the ball over the net. Most probably you would say that we’re talking about California or Rio de Janeiro. You could be right but not necessarily. This could also happen in Paris, New York or Gstaad.

The sport we are talking about is beach volleyball and can be played anywhere. I must confess that I like women’s beach volleyball. You can find a wonderful atmosphere, beautiful cheerleaders, and perfect bodies under the sun. But there’s something I don’t understand. Why so much touching, kissing and close physical contact after winning a point?? Without a doubt our guests are the queens in the kingdom of women’s beach volleyball. You will have guessed that I’m referring to Kerri Walsh (born August 15, 1978) and Misty May-Treanor (born July 30, 1977) the famous and successful American beach volleyball team that won the gold medal in the last Olympic Games held in Athens in 2004.
They both started playing indoor volleyball in high school and kept on playing in university where they won several titles. Kerri Walsh graduated from Stanford in 1999 with a degree in American Studies and Misty May-Treanor graduated from California State University, Long Beach. In recent years they have worked a lot to boost beach volleyball and help make it a popular sport. In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Kerri and Misty won the gold medal for women’s beach volleyball for the US team. Winning an unprecedented ninety-one matches and 16 tournaments in a row, Walsh and May captured the gold without losing a single game. Currently Walsh is ranked as the best female volleyball player in the world, and the Kerri Walsh-Misty May duo seems to be almost unstoppable on both the AVP and FIVB Beach Volleyball tours. Further into the future, they are likely to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a strong seed to win a second gold medal. As beach volleyball is a sport where athletes can perform effectively well into their 30's, such a prediction is within reason. Kerri is married to men's beach volleyball player Casey Jennings, and Misty is married to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor.

TITLE RECORD

Olympic Games:
Athens 2004: Gold Medal

World Championships
Rio de Janeiro 2003: Gold Medal
Berlin 2005: Gold Medal
Gstaad 2007: Gold Medal

To conclude I'll leave you a slideshow with the best pictures of Kerry Walsh and Misty May. Click on the desired photo to enlarge and download it. Below the slideshow you can see Kerri and Misty in action at 2004 Athens Olympics. Best regards

YELENA ISINBAYEVA: THE FLYING RUSSIAN WOMAN

Can woman fly? Apparently not. Only apparently. This Russian athlete,Yelena Isinbayeva, can. All she needs is a pole and a cheering crowd backing her. For a split second she seems to stop well over the crossbar and smile to the crowd before falling onto the landing mat. Yelena was born in Volgograd, the former Stalingrad, in Russia. Maybe when she was a child she was imbued with the spirit and strenght of those who defended her hometown during WWII. Now Yelena lives up to their memory. Yelena Isinbayeva goes higher and higher like a Soyuz spacecraft but using only her muscles and a pole.

Yelena flies like a wingless Pegasus of the modern era. Isinbayeva won the 2004 Olympic Gold Medal with a new World Record (then 4.91 m), was elected Female Athlete of the Year by the IAAF twice (2004 and 2005), and Sportswoman of the Year by Laureus, and has set 20 world records. Unbelievable. On July 22, 2005, Yelena became the first female pole vaulter to clear 5.00 metres. She's not only one of the best athletes in the world but also one of the prettiest female athletes. In the recent World Championships in Athletics held in Osaka she revalidated her World Champion title although she was not able to break her own world record getting only 4.80. A real flying woman: Yelena Isinbayeva.

Name : Yelena Isinbayeva

Birth date : 03/06/1982

Birth place : Volgograd, Russia

Height : 1m74 cm

Weight : 65 kg

Nationality : Russian

Speciality : Pole vault

Medal record

Olympic Games
Athens 2004 Gold

World Championships
Paris 2003 Bronze
Helsinki 2005 Gold
Osaka 2007 Gold

World Indoor Championships
Birmingham 2003 Silver
Budapest 2004 Gold
Moscow 2006 Gold

European Championships
Gothenburg 2006 Gold
Munich 2002 Silver

European Indoor Championships
Madrid 2005 Gold

To conclude this post I'll leave a pair of videos of this beautiful and sexy athlete called Yelena Isinbayeva. Best regards.