A win over Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler? That would have been anticipated. Sweden had accomplished so 10 consecutive instances heading into the gold medal match of the Paris Olympics, and 6 instances in 2024 alone.
However a 21-10, 21-13 pounding? Probably the most lopsided win in an Olympic closing in historical past? A margin wider than any of the golds by Misty Could-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings? With Ehlers and Wickler peaking, on the heels of their first profession victories over Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in Thursday’s semifinals?
It was, suffice it to say, an announcement.
Sure, Sweden got here into Paris because the No. 1 seed. Sure, they had been the No. 1-ranked staff on the earth, and have been for months. Sure, that they had made 10 straight finals earlier than Paris, a run that dates again to greater than a calendar yr. However many within the seashore volleyball world nonetheless couldn’t shake the notion that Mol and Sorum had been supplanted by the 22-year-old jump-setters who’re actively revolutionizing the way in which the sport is performed.
Sweden hasn’t gained a World Championship. They haven’t but sustained what Mol and Sorum have for therefore lengthy.
And but, after Saturday, there is no such thing as a different selection. There isn’t a longer a debate.
Sweden is the best seashore volleyball staff on the earth.
They’re ushering in a brand new period of ball management and motion and setting that these throughout the sport can not assist however undertake, or on the very least adapt in an try and halt or gradual the Swedes.
What we witnessed on Saturday was a seminal second within the sport.
There might be a Earlier than Sweden and an After Sweden.
At present, it’s neither earlier than nor after. It’s, merely, Sweden’s time.
“They’re the perfect staff on the earth,” Wickler informed Volleyball World. “Should you have a look at the final two years, what number of instances they gained gold medals on the very best stage, and so they had been top-seeded on this Olympic Video games, so I feel any medal aside from gold would have been disappointing for them. They’re very, very robust.”
As soon as pool play concluded, and Sweden exorcised no matter nervy points that led to 2 losses in three matches — as many as that they had the complete season — there was no stopping them. Solely Cuba’s Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz, who performed tremendously in a deceivingly low ninth-place end, took a set off Sweden as soon as the playoffs started.
After Cuba?
No one even got here inside three factors in a single set.
Not Evandro’s Evandro Goncalves and Arthur Mariano. Not Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. Not Ehlers and Wickler.
Sweden performed 4 straight opponents within the playoff rounds who hadn’t suffered a loss at that time within the event — and promptly dealt one devastating loss after the following. Their final six units had been gained by a mean of 21-14.3. Towards the perfect groups the world has to supply when the world is at its deepest pool of expertise it has ever seen.
These are numbers one may count on of a Mol and Sorum, Olympic veterans who’ve been on this stage earlier than, who’ve gained on this stage earlier than. And, to make certain, previous to Thursday’s semifinals — after which once more within the bronze medal match — these had been the numbers Mol and Sorum had been hanging on groups. However on Saturday, it was the Olympic rookies, the 22-year-olds with a blindingly vivid future who delivered such dominance, beating the staff who beat the Norwegians.
It’s Sweden’s world now.
On Saturday, it was, to be particular, Hellvig’s world. The 6-foot-3 blocker completed with 4 blocks, three coming in a 21-10 first-set victory that set the tone for the second. When Sweden wins units by such commanding margins, it’s sometimes Ahman, the electrifying defender, who delivers the blows. But it surely was Hellvig, blocking Ehlers, blocking Wickler, optioning completely, tagging strains, discovering area, funneling swings and pictures into Ahman. It was Hellvig who met the second when the second demanded it. All Ahman needed to do, actually, was choose up the scraps that got here his method.
“We centered earlier than this sport, and we knew that if we performed nicely, we might win this match,” Ahman mentioned. “After which we obtained to a very good begin and after that every little thing simply labored for us and I nonetheless don’t consider how we managed to play that nicely really.”
Norway’s Anders Mol, Christian Sorum win Olympic bronze
For six years, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum have been on an unimpeachable run of their very own. World Champs? Bought it. World No. 1? For years and years. European Champs? 4 straight at one level. And in Paris, they settled for bronze, bouncing again from a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Germany with a 21-13, 21-16 sweep over Cherif and Ahmed, who made their second consecutive Olympic semifinal.
Ahman and Hellvig collected Sweden’s first Olympic medal, whereas Mol and Sorum picked up Norway’s second. Ehlers and Wickler gained Germany’s first in additional than a decade, when Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann gained gold in London of 2012.
