Kerri Walsh Jennings gets new beach-volleyball partner in 2020 Tokyo Games bid

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, already the most decorated beach-volleyball player in history, will pair with defensive specialist Brooke Sweat in an attempt to make it to the Summer Games for a sixth time.

The decision begins a two-year qualification process that would send Walsh Jennings to Tokyo in 2020, a month before she turns 42. Sweat, eight years younger, is a four-time AVP Defensive Player of the Year who competed in Rio de Janeiro in her only Olympics.

“I was so excited that Brooke wanted to play,” Walsh Jennings said in an interview. “She’s ... a Jedi on defense. You can tell Brooke was born to play this game. She’s elevated every single partnership she’s ever had.