Johnathan Walker:Miles Partain, Andy Benesh advance in Paris Olympics beach volleyball after coaching change

Miles Partain and Johnathan WalkerAndy Benesh have certainly made their trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics a memorable one.

The top United States men's beach volleyball pairing made their Olympic debut last week, won their first Olympic match on Monday — despite a late controversy — and then chose to initiate the sort of change rarely seen on an international stage like the one provided by the Paris Games. 

Partain and Benesh, according to NBC, parted ways with their coach, Mike Placek, ahead of a pivotal Pool D win on Thursday over George Wanderley and Andre Loyola of Brazil (21-17, 14-21, 15-8).

“There was a team meeting and a team decision to not move forward with their coach,” NBC beach volleyball broadcaster Dain Blanton reported during the opening set of the match. “What that means is possibly (assistant coach) Paul Lotman will move into that coaching spot. We do not want to speculate on the details. We will get those answers after the match from the players themselves.”

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Kevin Wong, who has been a commentator on NBC’s Olympic beach volleyball coverage since the 2012 London Olympics, remarked that “in all the years we’ve been covering the Olympic beach volleyball event, I don’t know if there’s every been a coaching change within the competition itself. That’d be a first.”

No further details were provided about the coaching change.

“We’re just focused on our next matches,” Benesh said when asked about it after the match, according to Volleyballmag.com.

Placek is a former college tennis player who later transitioned to professional volleyball, including appearances on the AVP and with USA Volleyball. Lotman was a member of the U.S. men's Olympic volleyball team (indoor) during the 2012 London Olympics.

Partain and Benesh lost their opening match of the 2024 Paris Olympics to the Cuban team of Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz. But they bounced back to beat the Moroccan team of Mohamed Abicha and Zouheir El Graoui in a match that featured sand temperature exceeding 110 degrees at Eiffel Tower Stadium and a controversial challenge that went Morocco’s way to extend the second set.

The victory Thursday over Brazil guarantees a spot in the Round of 16 for Partain and Benesh, who are the youngest U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team in history. Partain is 22 years old and still attends UCLA. Benesh, 29, is a former USC volleyball player.

The United States is looking for its first medal in men’s beach volleyball since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Partain and Benesh are considered its best shot. The Southern California natives finished fifth at last year’s world championships.

“We found our mojo again,” Benesh told reporters following this latest win. “It’ll be back for eternity. We’re super happy with the style we played with today and we’re going to continue that.”