The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, 17 August) -- For the second time in their careers, Serena and Venus Williams of the United States are a golden sister act.
The second-seeded Williams sisters captured the Women's Doubles gold medal with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over fourth seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virgina Ruano Pascual of Spain on Court 1 at the Olympic Green Tennis Center on Sunday, August 17.
The duo won the Women's Doubles gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, where Venus Williams also picked up the Women's Singles gold medal.
The sisters put all their hopes of capturing gold in the Doubles after both were sent packing from the Singles competition in the quarterfinals. Serena Williams fell to eventual gold medalist Elena Dementieva of Russia, while Venus Williams lost to Li Na of China.
American teams have now won Women's Doubles gold medals in five of the six Olympics since Tennis rejoined the Games: Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver at Seoul 1988, Gigi Fernandez and Mary Joe Fernandez at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, and Serena Williams and Venus Williams at Sydney 2000 -- and again in Beijing.
This was the second silver medal in Women's Doubles for Ruano Pascual.
Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual delivered the fourth medal in Women's Doubles to Spain since 1988. Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario won silver in 1992 and bronze in 1996, and Martinez and Ruano Pascual won silver in 2004.
