Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

If they weren't household names before the Athens Olympics in 2004, they certainly became ones after not losing a match en route to their gold medal win.

If they weren't beach volleyball legends prior to the Beijing Games, then no one could argue that they are now, after being the first team to ever repeat as gold medalists in this sport.

"Everyone talks about streaks and records, and now we really are," Walsh said, patting her gold medal, "in the history books."

Speaking of those streaks and records, this is Walsh's 100th career tournament win and May-Treanor's 103rd career tournament win. Not many teams can boast a history of success like that.

It's also the duo's 108th consecutive match win. No one has won that many times in a row. The next best records for consecutive match wins also belong to Walsh/May-Treanor.

"There are so many amazing players that came before us and girls yet to come," Walsh, forever humble, said. "But I'm so proud of what we've done."

The gold medal match was intense both because of the high level of skill on both sides of the net and because of the downpour they were playing in. The rain was bad enough that the outdoor BMX event was postponed.

But, these athletes play rain or shine, humid heat or chilling cold. May-Treanor joked that she sees it as another reason the players wear bathing suits -- it allows them to be flexible with the weather.

All jokes aside, the rain did make play difficult in that it was hard to see with rain pelting the players' eyes and forcing them to have to bump-set instead of the typical overhead set.

Even so, China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie remained in a tight race with the Americans in both sets. The score was tied a majority of the time until the end of both games when the Americans went on a 5-1 streak in the first game and took three points in a row in the second for the overall victory. The final score was 21-18 and 21-18.

In the match before, China's second team, Xue Chen and Zhang Xi took the bronze after beating Brazil's Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro 21-19 and 21-17.

The two Chinese teams' dominance might come as a surprise to some because, in the past, it seemed like it was all about the Brazilians and Americans. Well, now the Chinese are added to the mix as they acquired their first two medals in beach volleyball, a silver and a bronze, which makes them tied for third in all-time medals in the sport.

Still, no one can doubt Walsh and May-Treanor's current hold on the game. "The American team is better than we are," said Tian Jia, after the match. "They are more experienced and stronger ... This is the best that we could do."

After smashing her last kill of the Olympics, Walsh and her partner fell to their knees with fists in the air, yelling with excitement. They hugged each other, shook the hands of their opponents and the referees, then ran into the stands. May-Treanor hugged her father, Butch, then went to sprinkle her mother's ashes on the court. Walsh found her husband, Casey Jennings.

Walsh and May-Treanor thanked everyone, including the cameramen, announcers, ball girls, dancers, volunteers, and President Bush.

"There's so many people that have helped us on this journey and it's just amazing," Walsh said afterwards. "We've grown from girls to women doing this. I always say thank you in my heart to them and to God. It's amazing the support we have. I would never ever take it for granted."

All in all, the experience truly was one for the record books. As Walsh put it, "It's so poignant. It's so deep inside. We're older now. We can appreciate this. Athens was just an adrenaline rush, lightning in a bottle. This is more like soulful. It's wonderful."