The Official Site of Misty May

Thu, Jul 17th 2008, 15:01

Age is advantage

Sounding an ominous note for her Olympic competitors, Misty May-Treanor believes she has become a better player since winning the beach volleyball gold at the Athens Games without losing a set.

The affable Californian says that being 31 years old when she and Kerri Walsh travel to Beijing next month to defend their title will be an advantage and not a handicap.

“Definitely experience helps,” the American said. “It’s taken me about six years to really figure it out, training-wise, what works best for my body.

“I don’t do the same training as Kerri, Kerri doesn’t do the same as me. Everybody’s a bit different. It just takes a while to figure out what you need.

“But you do get better with age. Maybe a little slower. But experience in beach volleyball comes into play when you get in those tight matches when fatigue sets in. I’m a lot wiser.”

May-Treanor getting better in the sport is not welcome news for teams hoping to dethrone the defending champions in the sport, which has been at the Olympics only since 1996.

ANYBODY’S BATTLE

Despite a shoulder injury to Walsh earlier this year and a new coach, the duo are steamrolling through the beach volleyball season and appear primed for another gold-medal run.