Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss are set to arrive in Paris for their first Olympic appearance with great momentum after they triumphed at this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16, their last tournament before the Games.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite16 replays on VBTV

The same goes for FIVB World Ranking leaders David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden, who will return from their first trip to the Swiss Alps with the coveted cowbells after they took gold in the men’s tournament.

Kloth, 27, and Nuss, 26, were nearly flawless this week in Gstaad, winning all their six matches and dropping just two sets along the way. One of them was in the gold medal match, on Sunday, when compatriots Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, who they had swept on Thursday in pool play, stole the first set before Kloth and Nuss surged to win in three (19-21, 21-15, 15-11) and take the title.

“What a tournament Cannon and Kraft had, coming all the way from the qualifier,” Nuss said after the final. “It’s super exciting to win here and I’m super thankful for everyone packing the stands every day. That means a lot to us.”

Their campaign in Switzerland mirrors their recent form at the international level as the Americans made it to the final of the last three tournaments they played, winning gold in Espinho and Gstaad and silver in Brasília in a sequence of matches that saw them win 17 of their last 19 duels on the Beach Pro Tour.

The tournament was also memorable for their fellow Americans Cannon and Kraft, who overcame the qualifier for the first time in the season in Gstaad and made the most of it, advancing all the way to the final to secure their first medal as partners on the Beach Pro Tour.

Gstaad Elite16 – Results

In the bronze medal match, Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova downed Brazilians Ágatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti in straight sets (21-16, 21-10) to earn a spot on the podium. It was the third-straight top-three finish for the two, who took silver in Stare Jablonki and bronze in Ostrava.

Åhman and Hellvig continue unstoppable

Åhman and Hellvig’s form on the men’s side is even more impressive as the Swedish have been on fire since the start of the season with 29 victories in 31 matches. The two have been in the final of each of the five Beach Pro Tour events they played, winning gold in the last four - Tepic, Espinho, Ostrava and Gstaad - and silver in Doha.

On Sunday, they were faced with Brazilians Andre Loyola and George Wanderley in the gold medal match in Gstaad and continued to deliver in the big moments to secure the title with a two-set (21-18, 21-18) victory.

“This has been such a great season for us, it’s hard to explain everything that’s happening,” Hellvig commented. “We’ve been playing so many tight matches and we somehow manage to win them in the end.”

Reigning Olympic champions Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway won an incredible battle against Italians Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava in the bronze medal match to make it to the podium. After long and tight three sets, the Beach Volley Vikings prevailed 2-1 (20-22, 22-20, 28-26) to make their second podium appearance in the year following another bronze in the season-opening Doha Elite16.

The Austrian capital Vienna will host the last Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event before the Paris Olympics, next week. The event will start on Tuesday, with the women’s qualifier, and will continue until Sunday.

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