U.S. duo Chase Budinger/Miles Evans couldn’t upset Norway’s Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, falling to the defending gold medalists 21-16, 21-14 in the men’s beach volleyball Round of 16.
Despite a scrappy effort from the Americans, the power and technical prowess of the Norwegians was simply too much to handle.
Mol/Sorum confidently handled the first set, never looking rattled against the first-tome Olympians. Norway carried that momentum into the second set, wearing out Budinger/Evans both at the net and on the defensive end.
The Americans had to play their way into the Round of 16 after a costly defeat to Spain dropped them to 1-2 in Pool play. Budinger/Evans qualified for the Round of 16 with a “Lucky Loser” match victory against Australia, but they faced one of the top teams in the world as a result.
A former NBA player of seven seasons, Budinger made headlines with his non-traditional path to the Olympics. After making the switch to beach volleyball in 2018, Budinger eventually teamed up with Evans in 2023, and the duo became a top 15-ranked team in the world.
Mol/Sorum advance to the quarterfinals, where they look to become the first-ever men’s beach volleyball team to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals