APRIL ROSS

The AVP is heading back to the beach with a bunch of new teams and a lot more tournaments for them to figure things out.

It's the first gold in the sport for Team USA since 2012.

The new medal standard in Olympic women’s track has been set.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball April Ross, left, of the United States, and teammate Alix Klineman celebrate winning a women's beach volleyball Gold Medal match against Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Playing in 92-degree Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) temperatures under the hot Tokyo sun, the Americans finished off the Aussies in 43 minutes. The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in 2000. The Swiss cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia to claim the first Olympic medal ever for their country's women on the beach. Graudina was the first person to make the Olympics after coming up through an NCAA beach volleyball program that started in 2012.

Historically, U.S. women have been incredibly dominant in beach volleyball at the Olympics. April Ross and Alix Klineman handily beat a duo from Australia to win gold in Tokyo.

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) (Charlie Riedel)TOKYO — (AP) — The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:___MEDAL ALERTAmericans April Ross and Alix Klineman have won the women’s beach volleyball gold medal. The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in Sydney in 2000. Tokyo Olympics organizers added 29 cases to its tally from July 1 through Thursday. Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman were scheduled to play Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy of Australia in the gold medal match later Friday morning. Van Riessen was briefly knocked unconscious when she collided with British rider Katy Marchant at more than 40 mph.

April Ross now has the complete set of Olympic beach volleyball medals.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball April Ross, left, of the United States, and teammate Alix Klineman celebrate winning a women's beach volleyball semifinal match against Switzerland at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. April Ross and Alix Klineman beat Switzerland 21-12, 21-11 at Shiokaze Park on Thursday to clinch at least a silver medal. It will be the third medal for Ross, who won silver in London and bronze in Rio de Janeiro. The victory also assures the United States of a beach volleyball medal for the seventh straight Summer Games. ___MEDAL ALERTGermany’s Florian Wellbrock has added a gold medal in marathon swimming to his bronze medal at the pool, winning the men’s 10-kilometer race at Tokyo Bay.

The main action for Day 12 of the Tokyo Games is at Olympic Stadium with live track & field events anchoring Wednesday coverage.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball April Ross, of the United States, dives for a shot during a women's beach volleyball match against Germany at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. CAS says it denied Tsimanouskaya’s request for an interim ruling Monday morning to overturn Belarus Olympic officials’ refusal to let her race in the 200. ___April Ross is the last medalist standing in the Olympic beach volleyball women’s bracket. Ross and Klineman are the U.S.’s last hopes for a beach volleyball medal in Tokyo. ___— More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Mickael Mawem of France is the top men’s qualifier in sport climbing’s Olympic debut and will be joined by his brother Bassa in the finals at the Tokyo Games.

The quest for gold medals is on track for the U.S. women’s basketball and volleyball teams after finishing at the top of their groups in pool play.

Julia Krajewski of Germany won individual eventing gold after countrymate and two-time defending champion Michael Jung stumbled during the cross country segment.

The final night of swimming gives Caeleb Dressel and four-time Olympic medalist Simone Manuel more chances to collect hardware on Day 8 of the Tokyo Games.

The Tokyo Games got their first swimming individual world record and a fast start to the track competition on Day 7 of the Olympics.

Track and Field begins competition on Day 6 of the Tokyo Games and four medal events will be decided in the pool in Thursday's coverage of the Olympics.

No, members of women's teams are not required to wear bikinis when they play beach volleyball at the Olympics. “I have always felt like when you get somebody drawn in, however you get them into beach volleyball, they fall in love with the sport,” said American April Ross, a three-time Olympian. Beach volleyball has been one of the most popular sports at the Summer Games since it was added to the program in 1996.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball April Ross, right of the United States, and teammate Alix Klimeman wave after winning a women's beach volleyball match against Spain at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (Petros Giannakouris)TOKYO — (AP) — The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:___The American “A-Team” of April Ross and Alix Klineman have guaranteed themselves at least one more beach volleyball match at the Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. women beat Spain 21-13, 21-16 on Tuesday morning for their second straight win. ___MEDAL ALERTFlora Duffy has won the Olympic women's triathlon, earning Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medal and its first medal of any kind since 1976. She's competing in her fourth Olympics and is one of just two athletes representing Bermuda in Tokyo.

The Americans will try to add to their impressive first day haul of swimming medals on Day 3 of the Tokyo Games when some of their top competitors get back in the pool Monday.

Tokyo Olympics Swimming Yui Ohashi, of Japan, celebrates after winning the final of the women's 400-meter Individual medleyat the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (Martin Meissner)The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:___MEDAL ALERTYui Ohashi has given Japan its first swimming gold medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. With a dazzling breaststroke leg, Ohashi romped to victory in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, touching first in 4 minutes, 32.08 seconds. It is the third swimming medal for the U.S. after Chase Kalisz won the first American medal of the Tokyo Games, taking gold Sunday in the men’s 400-meter individual medley. ___MEDAL ALERTChase Kalisz has won the first American medal of the Tokyo Games, taking gold Sunday in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball April Ross, left, of the United States, greets teammate, Alex Klineman, during a woman's beach volleyball match against China at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) (Petros Giannakouris)The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:___Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman have cruised to a straight-set victory over China in their Olympic beach volleyball opener. Ross is making her third appearance in the Summer Games with her third different partner. The Americans won the first set 21-17 and then took the second 21-19 over Xue Chen and Wang Xinxin. Bourne was a late substitute after Gibb’s original partner, Taylor Crabb, tested positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Japan.

Chen Lijun kept China’s perfect record in weightlifting intact with victory in the men’s 67-kilogram class at the Tokyo Olympics.

Yui Ohashi has given Japan its first swimming gold medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. With a dazzling breaststroke leg, Ohashi romped to victory in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, touching first in 4 minutes, 32.08 seconds. The Americans have earned five of a possible nine medals from the first three swimming finals, including a gold by Chase Kalisz in the men’s 400 individual medley.

The first day of full competition of the Tokyo Games could mark the turning point for an uneasy Japanese public that overwhelmingly disapproved of the Olympics being held during the pandemic.

Three-time beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings was defeated in her bid to reach the Olympics for a sixth time when she and partner Brooke Sweat lost in a qualifying match in Ostrava, Czech Republic.