SARAH SPONCIL

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.

APTOPIX Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball Sarah Sponcil, of the United States, competes during a women's beach volleyball match against Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (Felipe Dana)TOKYO — (AP) — The scoreboard at the Shiokaze Park beach volleyball venue said: “Challenge successful. “The referee just said, ’Wait, wait, wait. That ended the stay of Claes, 25, and Sponcil, 24 — the youngest American team ever to qualify for the Olympic beach volleyball tournament. And they would still be younger for the 2024 Paris Games than any the other American beach volleyball players in Tokyo are now.

The American team of Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes were ousted from the Olympic beach volleyball tournament by Canada.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball Kelly Claes, right of the United States, and teammate Sarah Sponcil converge to return a shot during a women's beach volleyball match against Canada at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (Felipe Dana)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:___UPSET ALERTAmericans Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes are out of the beach volleyball tournament after a three-set loss to Canada in the knockout round opener. Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson beat the U.S. 22-24, 21-18, 15-13 at the Shiokaze Park venue. Sponcil and Claes trailed 11-6 in the first set but rallied to take their first lead at 19-18. Canada appeared to take a 13-11 lead in the third set on a hit that was initially ruled out.

Belarus track sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya says her Olympic team officials tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday evening at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

"We’ve gotten kind of used to it, but it’s still weird," said Team USA athlete Kelly Claes.

Caeleb Dressel is expected to be the star of Day 7 at the Tokyo Games as he seeks his third gold medal in Friday night coverage of the Olympics.

Tokyo Olympics Beach Volleyball Sarah Sponcil, right, of the United States, stretches out for the ball as teammate Kelly Claes looks on during a women's beach volleyball match against Kenya at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 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:___American beach vollyeball players Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil dispatched Kenya in just 25 minutes, the fastest women’s match since the Olympics adopted their current format. ___MEDAL ALERTNew Zealand’s Grace Pendergrast and Kerri Gowler have won gold in the rowing women’s pair. They won double sculls in 2016, then switched boat disciplines and won two world championships before claiming another Olympic gold medal. They are the first men to win Olympic gold in both double sculls and the sweep pairs.

April Ross was 24 years old when she first started playing beach volleyball, the sport that would eventually send her to four Olympics. At that age, Sarah Sponcil is already headed to the Summer Games. Sponcil and her 25-year-old partner, Kelly Claes, are the first generation to come up through an NCAA beach volleyball program that didn’t exist until 2012 — long after Ross graduated from Southern California.

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.