by Tokyo Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Alix Klineman announced on social media Monday that she is retiring from the sport, about three weeks after her “A-Team” partner April Ross announced that she was leaving.
They will play their final event together at the AVP League Championship in Carson, California.
Ross, 42, led Southern California to back-to-back NCAA indoor volleyball championships before moving to the beach. She won a silver medal at the London Games, bronze in Rio and gold with Klineman in Tokyo. She had a son last year and got married in September.
“It is with a very happy and grateful heart, and also with a few tears, that I announce my retirement,” Ross posted on Instagram last month. “I’m happy to say I experienced it to the fullest and it was an absolute BLAST. At the same time, I can’t believe it’s (almost) over, I feel like it happened in the blink of an eye.
A four-time All-American at Stanford in indoor volleyball, Klineman, 34, moved to the beach in 2017 and joined Ross in winning gold in Tokyo, her only Olympic experience.
In her retirement video, she recited an open letter to volleyball, saying her focus had changed since she had a son, Theo, last year.
“It’s not just about you anymore, volleyball. It’s not about me either. This is my family. These are my priorities. And they are different now,” she said. “I thought I could do both: be a mom and play. …But I can’t do both the way I want. To do that, I have to sacrifice how I present myself to Theo, and I don’t want that.
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