EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 Television
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Australians win gold in Olympic women's beach volleyball

From Sports Illustrated • SI Images: Gallery 1 | Gallery 2 | Gallery 3 • Brian Cazeneuve: Despite controversy, track athletes excel • E.M. Swift: Horse sense • John Walters: The Channel Guy -- All about Bob (Costas) • Medal Picks: SI's Predictions More Features • Day at a Glance: Running with purpose • Sydney Scene: Luba Vangelova -- Relying on strange logic • Wake-up Call: Tracking the day in sports • Viewers' Guide: Sept. 25 • Quiz: Today's Tester Athletes • 10 Questions: U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson • Just Checking In: U.S. soccer player John O'Brien • Just Checking In: U.S. soccer player Brian Dunseth • In The Village: U.S. beach volleyball player Kevin Wong • Just Checking In: U.S. 400-meter hurdler Angelo Taylor • Head Games: U.S. 1,500-meter runner Jason Pyrah • Athlete Bios: U.S. Rosters Multimedia • Photo Gallery: Fantastic 400s • Photo Gallery: Shots of the Day • Multimedia Central: Photo Galleries, Video and More

SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) - Australia's Kerri Pottharst and Natalie Cook won the Olympic women's beach volleyball gold medal Monday, beating Brazilian No. 2 seeds Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede in straight sets on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach.

In what was billed as the Battle of the Beaches - Bondi v. Copacabana - the Australians jumped out to an early lead in the first set lifted by the partisan crowd and Pottharst's powerful serve.

The Brazilians, who led matchups between the two 14-3 before Monday's Olympic final, fought back though to get to set point at 11-8 before the Australians managed to survive two set points and draw level.

Cook then struck a bit of luck on set point, hitting a serve into the net and watching the ball drop on the Brazilian side to give the Australians the first set 12-11.

Pottharst and Cook were forced to come back again in the second set after the Brazilians attacked their way to a 10-8 lead before Pottharst served an ace to pull back to within one and Cook thundered a cross-court spike into the sand in front of Bede to draw level at 10-10.

The Australians then worked their way to match point, winning the second set 12-10 and a gold medal after a poke by Behar went wide.

The final had been billed as the Battle of the Beaches because the Brazilian pair, who have dominated the FIVB tour in recent years, both train on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach while Pottharst moved her training from Manly across Sydney Harbour to Bondi ahead of the Olympics.

Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel, also of Brazil, earlier won bronze overpowering Japan's Yukiko Takahashi and Mika Saiki to win in straight sets.

Pires was the Olympic champion four years ago in Atlanta alongside former partner Jackie Silva.

The once-controversial 10,000-seat Bondi stadium was purpose-built for the Olympics and has proved one of the most popular venues of the Sydney Olympics despite the opposition of some residents to its building in the first place.

Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.