100 Olympic Athletes To Watch

From Australia to Zimbabwe, China to the U.S., TIME takes you on a world tour to introduce you to the most compelling athletes you'll be seeing in the Beijing Games

60 & 61. Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor

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Beach Volleyball
United States
Age: 29 & 31

The greatest show on sand, Walsh and May-Treanor are three-time world champs in beach volleyball, and defending Olympic gold medalists. They've won a record 96 straight matches. Walsh is an outgoing, 6 ft. 3 in. kill machine, while the 5-ft 9-in. May-Treanor, who is married to Florida Marlins catcher Matt Treanor, is known for her quiet intensity. And as playing partners who have traveled the world together for the last eight years of course they can get on each other's nerves. "The thing that annoys me most is that she's the ultimate speed reader," says May-Treanor of Walsh. "I have reading narcolepsy — I read a page and fall asleep. How does she do that?" Walsh's biggest complaint about May-Treanor? "I want her to talk to me a little more," she says.

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