Olympic gold medalist Alix Klineman is retiring from professional beach volleyball.
Klineman, 34, made the announcement in a five-minute video published Monday.
Klineman and April Ross, who won Olympic gold together in Tokyo, will each play their final pro event at the AVP League Championship this weekend in Carson, California.
Ross, an Olympic medalist of every color, previously announced that this is her final season on tour.
“Well, this is it, one last final week of practice with you,” Klineman said in the video, which was voiced as a letter to the sport. “It still feels surreal. From my first awkward serve at the age of 6 to the thrill of competing on the world’s largest stage, we’ve been through it all.”
After winning Olympic gold in 2021, Klineman announced in January 2022 that she underwent shoulder surgery. She then had son Theo in June 2023.
She returned to competition in September 2023 for her first events in nearly two years. Then this past May, Klineman and Ross teamed up for the first time since 2021 to finish their A-Team partnership on the domestic AVP tour, both as moms.
“There is something about winning the gold medal — it checks the box, at least it did for me,” Klineman said. “Sure, I still love you (volleyball). I’m still here, but the desperation is gone. I used to do anything for you. Exhaustion, pain, none of that mattered. It’s actually crazy how much pain I withstood for you, and it was all worth it. But now there’s something, someone, worth it more. It’s no longer just about you, volleyball. It’s not about me, either. It’s about my family. It’s about my priorities, and they’re different now.
“I thought I could do both — be a mom and play, and I did. I am right now, but I can’t do both the way that I want to do both. When I do things, I do them to be the best. It’s not necessarily relative to anyone else, but the best that I’m capable of. I know I can be better at volleyball right now. You know it, too. But to do that, I have to sacrifice the way that I show up for Theo, and I don’t want that.”
Klineman was an All-American indoors at Stanford, finishing her college career in 2010. She played professionally in Italy and Brazil before switching full-time to the beach in 2017.
After Klineman’s first full season on the AVP tour, with one runner-up finish in eight events, she took up a tryout with Ross, and they became a team. By then, Ross already had won a world championship, plus Olympic silver and bronze medals with previous partners. Klineman had yet to play an international match.
“April, thank you for taking that chance on me back in 2018,” Klineman said. “You have taught me so much about the sport and being the best.”
Klineman and Ross quickly became the best in the U.S. and soon the world. In Tokyo, they became the second U.S. women’s beach team to win Olympic gold after Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who did so in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
“The one thing I wanted most, the Olympics, was always out of reach (indoors),” Klineman said. “Following you (volleyball) to the beach, that was a plot twist that even I didn’t see coming.
“Starting from the beginning, and more importantly the bottom, was maybe my favorite part of it all. The beach is where we fell in love again, and for that, it will probably be my favorite place.”
Fulfilled April Ross set to finish her beach volleyball playing career
April Ross set her retirement plans after winning an Olympic medal of every color.
