Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments. Walsh Jennings and teammate

Misty May-Treanor Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor (; née May; born July 30, 1977) is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and , was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tour ...

were the gold medalists in beach volleyball at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. They also won the

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships is the double-gender world championship for the sport of beach volleyball organized by the ' ( FIVB) the sport's global governing body. The first official edition of the event was held in Los Angele ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. The pair set various records throughout their partnership, including a

win streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

of 112 consecutive matches (19 consecutive tournament titles) in 20072008, breaking their own previous record of 89 consecutive match wins. They have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time."

Early years

Walsh was born in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara (; Spanish for " Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the cit ...

, the daughter of Margery Lee (née Formico, Italian American) and Timothy Joseph Walsh. Walsh grew up in

Scotts Valley Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles (48 km) south of downtown San Jose and six miles (10 km) north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mount ...

, north of Santa Cruz. She attended grade school there until the end of her middle school years. Before she started high school, her family moved to San Jose. Walsh attended

Archbishop Mitty High School Archbishop Mitty High School (commonly known as Mitty) is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, United States. The school is named for the late John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the ...

, competing on the volleyball and basketball teams. She led her school's teams to three state championships in volleyball, in 1993, 1994 and 1995. She also led her school's basketball team to a state championship in 1995. She was named Gatorade National High School Volleyball Player of the Year in 1996, the first time the award was given. Walsh was also the #1 volleyball athlete recruit in the nation her senior year (1995.) While in high school she competed against her future beach doubles partner,

College

Walsh attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

on a volleyball scholarship. While there she was selected as a first-team All-American four years in a row, becoming only the second player in the history of collegiate volleyball to be chosen first team all four years of their collegiate careers. While at Stanford her school's volleyball team won over 90% of its matches, posting a 122–11 overall record. The Cardinal won four Pac-10 titles and three times reached the NCAA Final Four, winning the title in 1996 and 1997, and falling to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

in the championship game in her senior year in 1999. She was selected as the MVP of the Final Four in 1996, and was co-National Player of the Year in 1999. She was also the first player in PAC-10 history to record over 1,500 kills (1,553), 1,200 digs (1,285) and 500 blocks (502). Walsh is considered to be one of the best all-around players in collegiate volleyball history. She graduated from Stanford in 2001 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

Professional career

Walsh-Jennings plays professional beach volleyball on the U.S. AVP Tour and internationally on the FIVB World Tour. For most of her career she played with partner Misty May-Treanor, forming the most successful beach pairings in AVP history. May and Walsh formed a partnership on the beach circuit in 2001, finishing the season with the number five ranking in the world. In 2002 the team reached the number one ranking. They continued their dominance in 2003, winning all eight tournaments they entered and a then-record 90 straight matches, including the world championships where they upset defending world champions Brazil in the final. In 2008 May-Treanor and Walsh extended a winning streak to 112 matches before losing to Olympic teammates

Elaine Youngs Elaine Youngs (born February 14, 1970 in Orange, California) is an American former professional volleyball player who competed both indoors and on the beach. Youngs attended UCLA, where as a freshman she started on a team that went undefeated t ...

and

Nicole Branagh Nicole Christine Branagh (born January 31, 1979, in Orinda, California) is an American volleyball player. She has represented the United States in international competition as a member of both the indoor and beach national teams. With partner E ...

in the AVP Crocs Cup Shootout in Ohio. To that point the pair had won 19 straight titles. Following the retirement of partner Misty May-Treanor in 2012, Walsh teamed with

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh ...

. She went on to break the career record for most wins by a female professional volleyball player when she won the FIVB Grand Slam in

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

, China. The win gave Walsh the 113th title of her career, breaking the old mark set by May-Treanor. Walsh and Ross won 21–14, 17–21, 15–12 over the Brazilian pair of Taiana Lima and Talita Da Rocha Antunes. It was the Americans' third title in five events since joining forces.

World tour 2016

She played alongside partner April Ross at the Long Beach, California Grand Slam, which is part of the

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the ' ( FIVB), the ...

. The pair won all 3 matches, against Carolina Horta Maximo, Carol/Ana Patricia Silva Ramos, Ana Patrícia Brazil (21 - 17, 21 - 19), Humana-Paredes/ Pischke Canada (21 - 16, 21 - 17), and Maria Antonelli/

Lili ''Lili'' is a 1953 American film released by MGM. It stars Leslie Caron as a touchingly naïve French girl whose emotional relationship with a carnival puppeteer is conducted through the medium of four puppets. The film won the Academy Award for ...

Brazil (21 - 19, 18 - 21, 15 - 13). In semi final action (August 27, 2016) Walsh Jennings and Ross played against

Chantal Laboureur Chantal Laboureur (born 4 January 1990 in Friedrichshafen) is a German beach volleyball player. Professional career Since 2021 her teammate has been Sarah Schulz. World tour 2016 At the 2016 Grand Slam at Long Beach, California, In semi fin ...

Julia Sude Julia Sude (born 2 September 1987 in Gießen) is a German beach volleyball player. Professional career Since 2015 her teammate has been Chantal Laboureur. World tour 2016 At the 2016 Grand Slam at Long Beach, California, In semi final action ...

of Germany and won in straight sets (21 - 17, 21 - 16). In the finals Walsh Jennings/Ross defeated Spain's Liliana Fernández Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan in straight sets (21–16, 21–16) to win the gold medal. Competing at the World Tour Finals in Toronto, playing in Pool A they are in 1st with a 2-0 and advance to quarter finals.

2017

In 2017, Walsh-Jennings announced she was not signing a new contract with AVP because of disagreements with the organization. Ross re-signed with the AVP. She and Walsh-Jennings ended their partnership. Walsh-Jennings then reteamed with

, with whom she briefly competed during May-Treanor's 2010 break from beach volleyball.

2018-2019

In October 2018 Walsh-Jennings announces she would be partnering with Brooke Sweat in hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Games in 2020.

Brooke Sweat Brooke Sweat (born Brooke Youngquist; March 27, 1986) is an American professional beach volleyball player, specializing as a defender. She started her career in 2007 with the AVP tours. Sweat had her best ever international ( FIVB) finish with ...

is a defensive specialist, she has won defensive player of the year on the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) tour four times. The pair failed to qualify for the games which were postponed until 2021.

Olympic appearances

Sydney 2000

Walsh played in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

as an

opposite hitter Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

on the U.S. women's indoor team, earning a fourth-place finish. She missed several of her first games due to a false positive on a drug test, which indicated a suspicious epitestosterone to testosterone ratio. After being retested, Walsh was cleared of any wrongdoing and allowed to continue playing.

Athens 2004

At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, Walsh and

won the gold medal in women's beach volleyball without losing a single set in all seven Olympic matches.

Beijing 2008

On August 21, 2008, Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor repeated as Olympic gold medalists, defeating the first-seeded Chinese team in the final match (they would have been first-seeded, but home rule put them in the #2 spot with China as the #1). May-Treanor and Walsh did not lose a set in either of the past two Olympics. Their final match extended their unbeaten streak to 108 matches.

London 2012

Walsh and May-Treanor competed together for the last time in the

in London. After first and second round wins, they continued their Olympic win streak of 32 consecutive sets without a loss until losing the first set of three to Austria in a preliminary round before ultimately winning the match, 17–21; 21–8; 15–10. The pair faced China in the semi-finals, where they won a hard-fought victory over Xue Chen and Zhang Xi 22–20, 22–20 to reach the finals. In an all USA final they defeated fellow Americans Jen Kessy and

, 21–16, 21–16 to win the gold medal. The victory placed Walsh and May-Treanor as one of the few athletes to have won the gold medal in three consecutive Olympiads.

Rio de Janeiro 2016

Walsh-Jennings partnered with

for the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

in Rio de Janeiro. The pair reached the semi-finals, where they fell to Brazil's

Ágatha Bednarczuk Ágatha Bednarczuk Rippel (born 22 June 1983), frequently referred to as just ''Ágatha'', is a Brazilian international beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She won the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships, as well as a silver m ...

and

Bárbara Seixas Bárbara Seixas de Freitas (born 8 March 1987 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. In 2012, she was named FIVB top Rookie of the year. Seixas is a three-time youth World Champion and has reached the p ...

in two hard fought sets, (22-20, 21–18). In the bronze medal match, Walsh-Jennings and Ross faced the number one ranked team of

Larissa França Larissa França Maestrini (born April 14, 1982) is a beach volleyball player from Brazil. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with Juliana ...

Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was FIVB rookie of the year in 2005, and World Tour Winner twice, in 2013 and 2015. Career Born in Aquidauana, Antunes caught the ...

from Brazil. This was the match many thought would be played for the gold medal, but Larissa and Talita had been upset in the semifinals by Germany's Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, throwing the two top teams into the bronze medal match. Walsh-Jennings and Ross dropped the first set and were down by three in the second before coming back to win, 17–21, 21–17, 15–9. The bronze medal was Walsh-Jennings' fourth Olympic medal, making her the most decorated beach volleyball player–male or female–in Olympic history.

Media appearances

In February 2006, Walsh Jennings had a guest-starring role in an episode of ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'' along with several other AVP Volleyball players. Walsh Jennings hosts a weekly, one-hour radio show on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

's Faction 28 station. It airs every Sunday at 9 AM Eastern time. Walsh Jennings appeared in the Game Show Network television show

Extreme Dodgeball ''Extreme Dodgeball'' is an American game show based on the game of dodgeball that aired between 2004 and 2005 on the Game Show Network. The series ran for three seasons, each of which featured six to eight teams of five to seven players. The f ...

. She was a member of the Detroit Spoilers, who lost all ten games they played. Walsh Jennings also appeared alongside her volleyball partner

on the show

Shaq Vs ''Shaq Vs.'' is an American reality television show produced for ABC by Dick Clark Productions and Media Rights Capital starring American basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. It began airing on August 18, 2009. Shaquille O'Neal claims to be "the ...

. in August 2009. Walsh appeared in the

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year i ...

"Body Issue", with images taken both before and after giving birth to her third child. Walsh appeared in the twelfth season of ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

'' where she gave the team challenge winner a private volleyball lesson. In 2015, Walsh Jennings and her husband appeared on

Celebrity Wife Swap ''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...

. She swapped places with

Tami Roman Tamisha Akbar (born April 17, 1970) better and professionally known as Tami Roman, is an American television personality, model, businesswoman and actress. Roman first gained fame on '' The Real World: Los Angeles'' in 1993. After making cameo ap ...

from the television show Basketball Wives. In the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19, Walsh has expressed disagreement with mask mandates resulting in criticism from those who believe such protests help the spread of the disease.

Personal life

In 2005, Walsh married fellow American pro beach-volleyball player

Casey Jennings Casey Thomas Jennings (born July 10, 1975) is an American beach volleyball player. He teams up with Kevin Wong and has teamed up with Brad Keenan or Matt Fuerbringer during most of his career. He married Kerri Walsh, a beach volleyball player w ...

. They have three children, two sons and a daughter. Walsh was five weeks pregnant during the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Walsh trained on the sand split between

Hermosa Beach Hermosa Beach (''Hermosa'', Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Bay region of th ...

and Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles, California, and from 2002 did additional training in the gym at O.C. Fast-Twitch with trainer Tommy Knox.

Awards and honors

* AVP Best Offensive Player (2): 2003, 2014 * AVP Crocs Cup Champion (3): 2006, 2007, 2008 (all with Misty May-Treanor) * AVP Most Valuable Player (2): 2003, 2004 * AVP Team of the Year (8): 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (with Misty May-Treanor), 2014, 2016 (with April Ross) * AVP Best Defensive Player (Blocker) (1): 2008 * FIVB Best Blocker (7): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014 * FIVB Best Hitter (5): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2016 * FIVB Best Offensive Player (2): 2007, 2014 * FIVB Most Outstanding (4): 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014 * FIVB Sportsperson (5): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012 * FIVB Tour Champion (1): 2002 (with Misty May-Treanor) * Sportswoman of the Year Award (2): 2004 and 2006 (with Misty May-Treanor)

Achievements

* Most women's career tournament victories: 133 * Most women's career earnings: $2,561,635 * Record

of 112 consecutive matches and 19 straight tournaments that lasted from August 2007 to August 2008

References

External links