Get to know Alix Klineman and April Ross: 5 facts about the United States' new top beach volleyball pair
April Ross is an Olympic veteran. Alix Klineman has been waiting for this chance.
For the Tokyo Olympics this summer, For The Win is helping you get to know some of the star Olympians competing on the world’s biggest stage. Leading up to the Opening Ceremony, we’re highlighting 23 athletes in 23 days. Up next up is the duo of Alix Klineman and April Ross.
While much of the attention surrounding the U.S. Women’s Beach Volleyball team will focus on who isn’t there — Keri Walsh Jennings will miss her first summer Olympics of the century — you should go ahead and get to know what would have been the country’s best medal hope, anyway.
Alix Klineman, 31, and April Ross, 39, finished tied for first in the FIVB provisional Olympic ranking. They’ve been so dominant since teaming up in 2018 that they were able to clinch a spot in the Games by winning a tournament in March to secure one of the United State’s two spots in Tokyo (other squads had to wait until June for their status to be figured out.)
Here are some facts you should know about Ross and Klineman.