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Former Stanford All-American and three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings will miss her first Olympics since 1996, her freshman season with the Cardinal women’s volleyball.
Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat were upset by the Netherlands Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam, 21-18, 19-21, 15-12, in the qualifying event of the J&T Banka Ostrava Beach Open on Wednesday in the Czech Republic.
Americans Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, who won a gold medal on the FIVB World Tour in Sochi, Russia last weekend, moved past Walsh Jennings and Sweat in the Olympic provisional rankings.
Stanford will still be represented in beach volleyball at the Tokyo Olympics, which get under July 24, by another former All-American Alix Klineman, who will be making her first appearance.
Klineman’s teammate April Ross was Walsh Jennings former partner at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where they earned a bronze medal.
Walsh Jennings and Sweat are ranked seventh in the Olympic rankings but countries are allowed just two spots in the 16-team tournament.
The Continental Cup finals June 21-27 could be a last-ditch effort for Walsh Jennings, who won gold in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012). She was on the U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball team in Sydney in 2000.
Walsh Jennings was a four-time All-American at Stanford, which won a pair of NCAA titles over that span. She was named national Freshman of the Year in 1996 and Co-Player of the Year in 1999.
On the FIVB World Tour, Walsh Jennings won a record 113 titles in addition to 12 silver medals and nine bronze.
She won another 20 AVP titles and was part of eight AVP Teams of the Year.