Kerri Walsh Jennings And April Ross Take Home Bronze In Beach Volleyball

Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross took home the bronze medal in beach volleyball.

After the two volleyball players lost in straight sets to Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas during the semifinals on Copacabana Beach Wednesday night, they rallied and came back to defeat Brazil’s Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes Thursday.

“I have a newfound respect for the bronze medal match because we were devastated the night before,” Walsh Jennings told Matt Lauer after the win. “Literally devastated.”

“We didn’t sleep a wink and we had 24 hours to come to grips with what just happened and to fight for a chance at redemption, at vindication, at anything and we did it.” (RELATED: Kerri Walsh Jennings And April Ross Advance To Beach Volleyball Semifinals)

“There’s no shame in a bronze medal, and I used to think that, and I’m so ashamed of thinking that because there is so much joy and hard work and love in it,” she added.

“That’s like my ego talking and that’s just ignorance to me. It’s a terrible way to frame things because it’s like we won this. We didn’t lose, we won this.” (RELATED: Kerri Walsh Jennings Comes Under Fire From Feminists)

This is Walsh Jennings’s fourth Olympic medal, securing her spot as the oldest female winner in the history of the Olympic sport.

She was criticized earlier this week because she said she was “born to have babies and play volleyball.”

“Before I had more kids, I was like, this feels trivial,” she said during an interview.

“I’d been playing for so long, and I was like I need balance. All my eggs are in this one basket and it’s very self-centered and self-focused. They gave me that perspective and balance I thought I was missing. It took my game and my desire and my passion for life to the next level.”

“I am hugely indebted to my children.”