Beach Volleyball:Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh proved far too strong for Brazil when moving to within touching distance of their goal of being the first team to defend their Olympic beach volleyball title with 21-12 21-14 win.
The US pair have not lost a match for a year and have never dropped a set at the Olympics. They are favorites to win the final against one of two Chinese teams playing in the other semi.
"It is so difficult to win against them like this. They are perfect. Nobody is going to beat them," said defeated opponent Renata Ribeiro.
Ribeiro and her partner Talita Antunes stepped up the pressure in the second set but it was not enough to get past the three-times world champions who were on super-charged form, diving for digs and blocking and spiking strongly at the net.
"We've accomplished one goal - to get to the gold medal match - but we're not done yet. We want to get out there and kick butt against the Chinese on their home soil," said Walsh.
May-Treanor and Walsh will now meet either Tian Jia and Wang Jie or Zhang Xi and Xue Chen, both in the top four of the Olympic qualification ranking.
Walsh, known as "Six feet of sunshine" beamed, screamed and leapt about the sand after winning, hugging cameramen, and greeting all the volunteers working on the court.
"I've been serious and surly for days I was so anxious. It feels good to be glowing again," she said.