Brazil wins first women's beach volleyball gold in 28 years in historic match

The 2024 Paris Olympics women's beach volleyball gold-medal match was one for the ages.

Brazil's Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Ramos defeated Canada's Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson 26-24, 12-21, 15-10 in the first three-set gold-medal match in women's beach volleyball history.

It's also Brazil's first gold in the event since the sport's inaugural appearance at the Olympic Games in 1996.

The match featured an intense exchange between Ramos and the Canadian team after a point during the third set.

They exchanged words at the net, and an official stood between them before things escalated.

Associated Press sportswriter Kyle Hightower shared that the DJ at the beach volleyball court lightened the mood by playing John Legend's anti-war classic "Imagine," causing the players to smile.

Brazil was the only one smiling at the end of the third set. For Lisboa, 26, the win is the crown jewel in a career that began in 2010.

She is a two-time under-21 and three-time under-19 world champion and was named the FIVB's Top Rookie in 2016.

Ramos also won two under-21 world championships (2016, 2017) and partnered with Lisboa en route to winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Bueno Aires, Argentina.

They've been beach volleyball partners since 2022 but also played together in 2016-17 and 2014.

Lisboa and Ramos won their first gold as a duo 10 years ago at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.