LONDON — Everything was right again in the world of U.S. women’s Olympic beach volleyball.
The night London weather was slightly warmer, allowing Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh to dress down to their red bikini bottoms. Walsh’s pink eye has almost healed, leaving her looking like a blonde runway model again. And this time the dazzling American duo from SoCal didn’t drop a set.
In rumbling through to the quarterfinals, the two-time defending gold medalists crushed the Netherlands pair of Marleen Van Lersel and Sanne Keizer 21-13, 21-12 in 30 minutes at the revered Horse Guard Parade.
In their prior match, May-Treanor and Walsh dropped their first-ever Olympic set after 32 straight set wins.
“The extra motivation may have been to jump on them at the start and be the aggressor,’’ May-Treanor said. “That was on our mind.’’
“I was really proud, so few unforced errors,’’ Walsh added. “We were relentless. Losing does something to you.’’
The American duo next faces Italy’s Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti tomorrow in the quarterfinals. An All-American final is not out of the question as Jennifer Kessy and April Ross are alive. “It could happen,’’ May-Treanor said.
* Former 100-meter world champion Kim Collins was expelled by his team from the Olympics yesterday for missing training sessions. He said he was being punished for spending time with his wife.
The St. Kitts and Nevis team described him as a “national hero” in announcing the penalty.
Collins, the 2003 world champion, told the Associated Press that he showed up at the athletes village yesterday morning and found that his accreditation had been canceled, locking him out.
* Maxim Mikhaylov scored 27 points and Russia snapped an 11-match winning streak for the U.S. men’s volleyball team in Olympic play with a 3-2 preliminary round victory.
A win would have clinched the U.S. men the top seed in their pool. They have another chance tomorrow against winless Tunisia.
* Track and field’s governing body suspended athletes from Belarus and Morocco for doping offenses, barring them from the London Olympics.
The IAAF says hammer thrower Ivan Tsikhan and middle-distance runner Amine Laalou will face disciplinary cases that will be handled by their national federations. The Associated Press reported yesterday that both left Britain.
* South Korea topped host Britain 5-4 in a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals of the men’s soccer tournament. It will face Brazil, which beat Honduras in the quarterfinals. Japan and Mexico play in the other semifinal.
* American Jamie Lynn Gray won the gold medal in women’s 50-meter three-position rifle shooting, setting two Olympic records along the way.
* New Zealand beat the United States 3-2 in women’s field hockey, preventing the Americans from advancing to the medal round.