Anders Mol and Christian Sørum are, more than ever, at the top of the world. After dominating international beach volleyball for the last three years, the Norwegians secured the biggest victory of their careers by winning the gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics.
Playing in their first Olympics, the Beach Volley Vikings had a dominant performance in the all-European gold medal match and defeated reigning world champions Oleg Stoyanovskiy and Viacheslav Krasilnikov of Russia in two sets (21-17, 21-18) to secure the title.
"It’s really amazing," Sørum said. "It’s been our dream for so long. Three years ago I took a screenshot of the Olympic gold medal from Rio and I put it on my phone and I’ve watched that medal every day since. To stand here with a gold medal, together with Anders and the rest of our team, is amazing."
The 24-year-old Mol and the 25-year-old Sørum have become the first Norwegian team to win a medal at the Olympics. They’re also the second European men’s duo to step at the top of the podium in the greatest stage of international sports, joining Germans Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann, who won the London 2012 Olympics.
"It feels unreal," Mol added. "We’ve been working for this so hard and for so long! It’s been our dream for so many years. Becoming the youngest Olympic champions is really a dream come true and I don’t think we really realize what we have done right now. It’s surreal!"
