Misty May and Kerri Walsh were once unbeatable in beach volleyball, winning 90 consecutive matches and 15 straight tournaments from July 2003 to last spring.
The streak ended after May pulled an abdominal muscle. Rivals now sense vulnerability in the world's top-ranked tandem, which will be digging for gold at the Athens Games.
| _____ Countdown to Athens _____
• The Olympics are less than a week away and organizers are pulling the pieces together for the Aug. 13 opening.
_____ From The Post _____
• Dana Vollmer will be one of those tales of courage that come up during the Olympics.
• Michael Wilbon: In Athens, the new can't hold a torch to the ancient.
• Lauryn Williams is far more interested in chasing goals she can see rather than those she can imagine.
• Notebook: Jerome Young reportedly tested positive for the banned drug EPO at a meet last month.
_____ Live Online _____
• Tony Azevedo, the top scorer on the U.S. Men's Water Polo team, took questions July 28.
• Alexander Kitroeff discussed his book, "Wrestling with the Ancients: Modern Greek Identity and the Olympics," and the history of the Games on July 27.
_____ On Our Site _____
• Photos: Swimming trials.
• Photos: Track and field trials.
_____ Swimming's Wonder Boy _____
• Phelps's main training partners and buddies reflect on blown chances. (July 27)
• Coach Bob Bowman has been the guiding force for Phelps. (July 4)
• Gallery: Coach shows the way to Athens.
• Numerous endorsements already have made Phelps a millionaire. (June 1)
• Gallery: The road to the Games are paved with gold.
• Phelps expected to be the Games' most-decorated athlete. (April 18)
• Gallery: Phelps making a splash.
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"I don't see an aura of invincibility. I don't think they'll dominate like they have been," said Holly McPeak, who became the sport's winningest female player this summer.
McPeak and partner Elaine Youngs won a duel with 2000 Olympians Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan to earn the second American berth in Athens.
May played through her injury for three weeks in June, then sat out a month to let it heal. The 2000 Olympian said in early July she would rejoin Walsh at a tournament in Hermosa Beach, Calif., in late July.
"I'm just being conservative, playing it safe. We'll be fine," May said as she mingled with beach-goers at Belmar, N.J., a stop on the AVP tour.
But Walsh is a little nervous, fighting the daily urge to call her partner for an update.
"We're invested in each other, so what she's feeling, it affects me," Walsh said. "She puts me at ease when she answers my questions."
With May sidelined and Walsh playing with substitute partners, McPeak and Youngs emerged as medal contenders.
The pair won five tournaments between May 30 and July 10, including a victory over Walsh and Jennifer Meredith in the Belmar championship match.
American women have never won a beach volleyball medal.
Construction Nearly Complete
The unfinished construction of dust-choked venues stood as a symbol of Athens's troubling Olympic delays a few months ago.
Now the last touches are being made on the main Olympic complex. The stadium roof rises like a giant oyster shell. The grounds feature pools of water that shimmer in the night.
At the end of a three-year construction blitz, Olympic organizers are finally silencing the critics. Nearly all venues are ready for the Aug. 13 Opening Ceremonies or very close to completion.
Athens, it appears, has beaten the clock. But at a price.
Delays have left almost no time to test and troubleshoot vital security equipment. Projects to spruce up the city have been scaled back or cut. The unfinished work will be hidden behind huge banners. Ribbons and flags will be used to try to divert attention from the sidewalks that were never smoothed out or the dreary concrete buildings that didn't get fresh paint.
Security Is Operational
A vast network of street cameras, surveillance vans, underwater sensors and a blimp bristling with ultra-sensitive monitors was declared operational three weeks before the Games begin and a day after the Olympic Village opened.
The $312 million surveillance system was supposed to be ready May 28, but there were delays in installation, blamed on construction setbacks at various Olympic venues.
Overall security for the Aug. 13-29 Games is costing three times more than planned. Greece initially was to spend $600 million on security, but that has soared to a record $1.5 billion operation to thwart a possible terrorist attack.
