“Really Special Feeling”: Determined Partner of USA’s Beach Volleyball Star Desperately Craves Olympic Status Just Like Her Ally

The childhood fairytale of “Cardinal and Gold” is far from being over. They are returning to beach volleyball to add another layer to it. With the Road to Paris just right around the corner, the two friends have reunited. They reunited in the fall of 2022 and since then they have reached the highest of rank in their sport.

After four years and changing several partners, a gut feeling brought them back together. They have been reigning in the top ranks of beach volleyball and now are looking towards the golden glory at the Paris Olympics 2024. Despite being very similar in almost everything, there is one single major difference that both partners will be trying to conquer.

On an Olympic quest in beach volleyball

Kelly Cheng and Sarah Huges are on one mission. To eliminate the one difference between them. It is the rings on Kelly Cheng’s right forearm. She has an Olympic rings tattooed on her forearm. In an interview with Olympics.com, she said, “What does it mean to be an Olympian? It’s a very surreal feeling getting to go compete on the biggest stage against the rest of the world with your country on your back”. She further said that it is something that only 0.001 percent of people get to do. Therefore, “it’s a really special feeling” for her.

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Hughes is hoping to be part of that 0.001 percent. In the interview with Olympics.com, she talked about how beautiful of a feeling it would be, to be able to see it become real. And to be able to do that with Kelly Cheng would make it even more special. The pressure is high for “cardinal and gold”, as USA players have always won at least one medal in the sport from the beginning when it became part of the Olympics in 1996. But that is not where the pressure starts for them.

The story of Cardinal and Gold

Both Kelly Cheng and Sarah Huges are from Southern California. Staying just 30 minutes drive away from each other, they started their journey differently. Hughes started playing at Huntington Beach and Cheng would play indoor volleyball. Cheng transitioned from hard court to beach volleyball and that is the time when she met Sarah Hughes.

Their kinship started from there and they participated in tournaments together winning bronze at the 2013 FIVB U19 World Championships and the FIVB U21 World Championships a year later. In the World University game, they reached the top of the heights.

Their successful college career earned them their name “Cardinal and Gold”. It was an appreciation of their respective hair colors that also matched the alma mater of their university, the University of Southern California. They took a hiatus and went their separate ways after winning the NCAA titles. But now they are reunited with one goal: to conquer the Olympic rings.

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