It can be hard to draw your attention away from the Eiffel Tower when watching the beach volleyball in Paris, but as Australia and Brazil became locked in a gripping women's semifinal, every eye was locked on the court.
It certainly hasn't been a bad place for Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar to come to work for the past two weeks.
The Aussies reached those heights three years ago, but no further. A silver medal was the end result from a final against the USA, a result to be proud of but — in Clancy's words, it "wasn't the colour we wanted". These two women can cover an enormous amount of ground, and one very rarely finds themselves in a difficult position without the readily available support of the other.There is no such thing as a lost cause in beach volleyball, it seems. At least not with these two, who would sooner take a face full of sand than admit defeat on a single point.
Brazil is fighting back. Silva Ramos is 194cm tall, and seemingly impossible to get the ball past at the net. Almost immediately after Brazil wins the rally of the match, after both sides somehow kept themselves alive three or four times more than they had any right to. At that point, a man in a Brazil football kit with 'Ronaldo 9' on the back nearly falls down the stairs in celebration.The third set ebbs and flows, painfully close. A mistake will decide it, and unfortunately it's Clancy who makes it.
Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar will play for the bronze medal against Switzerland at 5am Saturday . Follow all the action via ABC Sport's live blog.Hugs and tears as Australia stuns defending water polo champs the US to book a place in the Olympics final
Paris Olympics Beach Volleyball Australia Brazil Taliqua Clancy Mariafe Artacho Del Solar
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