Two years ago, Terese Cannon planned on dancing had she won her bronze medal match in Itapema. She and Sara Hughes had killed time going over the moves to Footloose. So when the final ball landed, and the bronze medal was assured, they broke it out, to the delight of the thousands of Brazilian fans.
Come 2023, she hadn’t actually planned on dancing post-bronze medal match, yet the on-court emcee had different plans for her and Sarah Sponcil. After a dazzling display in a 21-16, 21-17 Volleyball World Challenge tournament win over Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre, Sponcil and Cannon were expecting the usual post-match interview, the one where athletes are expected to be asked about how they’re feeling, what the mean wins to them, the usual sort.
But there’s nothing usual about beach volleyball in Brazil. This is a country of dancing and emotion and energy and movement, with a sold-out venue and raucous fans. The emcee, no stranger to this atmosphere, knew as much, requesting Sponcil and Terese learn a Brazilian line dance on the spot, in front of thousands.
They were game. Of course they were. They had just won their third medal as a team, 720 points, and $7,000 in prize money. They’d have been game for anything in front of those adoring fans.
“You’re the best fans in the world,” Cannon said. “Thank you so much for watching and cheering. It’s amazing.”
They had plenty to cheer in the match that ensued, with hometown favorites and top seeds Barbara and Carol in the finals with China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia. Yet it was Xue and Xia, in their first tournament as a team, who did the near-impossible, stumping Brazil, in Brazil, in the final, 21-18, 21-17 to win gold.
“We haven’t had a packed stadium in a long time so thank you so much, Brazil,” Sponcil said. “Thank you for your love of volleyball.”
George and Andre, the Kings of Itapema, are inevitable
There is a scene in the Avengers: End Game, in which Thanos, the chief antagonist, moments before he anticipates ending the world as he knows it, tells the Avengers that, despite their best efforts at thwarting him — and indeed they threw far more than the metaphorical kitchen sink his way — he “is inevitable.”
That is a bit what it’s like watching Andre Loyola and George Wanderley play beach volleyball in Itapema, Brazil: Inevitable….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…