Four-time Olympian, 2008 gold medalist Phil Dalhausser retires from beach volleyball
Four-time Olympian Phil Dalhausser announced his retirement after he and beach volleyball partner Nick Lucena were eliminated on Sunday in the round of 16 in Tokyo. The duo finished tied for ninth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Dalhausser, 41, spent part of his modified quarantine in Japan thinking and calculating how long he's been away from his wife and two children, ages 7 and 8.
“I’ve missed like a year and a half of my kids’ life. That’s time I’ll never get back,” he said, via the Associated Press. “I love the sport and everything. It’s given so much to me, but I think it’s time to move on, try to spend more time with my family.”
He won the 2008 gold medal in Beijing while paired up with Todd Rogers. The two failed to medal at the 2012 London Games. He then paired up with Lucena, and they tied for fifth at the 2016 Rio Games. They lost to the eventual champions in that tournament.
“For 20 years, I’ve used my body to make a living. Now I want to use my head, use my brain,” Dalhausser said, via the AP. “And I have something that I like to do. Hopefully, that turns into a living.”
On Sunday they fell to a Qatar team, Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan, who trained with them in Florida to prepare for a series of tour events and the Olympics. They are ranked No. 1 in the FIVB rankings and advanced over the U.S., 14-21, 21-19, 15-11.
Dalhausser, a two-time world championship medalist, spent his first days in Tokyo in a three-night, uninterrupted quarantine as a close contact of U.S. beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb. Crabb tested positive for COVID-19 and the two were on the same plane overseas.
Crabb returned home to Hawaii and was replaced while the 6-foot-9 Dalhausser spent time in a room so small he could nearly touch both walls with his long wingspan.
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