USA Wins Gold in Women's Beach Volleyball

The duo of Tian Jia and Wang Jie lost in the final to Kerri Walsh (photo above) and Misty May-Trainor of the United States, 21-18, 21-18, but earned China’s first beach volleyball medal.

This is great news for the U.S. as well as China, reports the New York Times.

The Chinese had won just two of 13 Olympic beach volleyball matches before the 2008 Games.

They also claimed the bronze, with Xue Chen and Zhang Xi defeating Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro of Brazil in the third-place match.