Miles Partain and Andy Benesh couldn’t stop the slide so the United States is leaving beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics without a medal for the first time.

The 21-14, 21-16 loss to the Qatari team of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in the quarterfinals on Wednesday made it the first American medal shutout since the sport was added to the Olympic program at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Partain and Benesh carried American hopes with both women’s teams and the other men’s team already out of the tournament.

“I wish one of our teams did (win a medal),” Partain said. “We did the best we could.”

Benesh said the lack of American medals in the sport at the Paris Games was not necessarily because of a drop in the team’s level, but more because the general standard of play has gone up.

“It’s a little bit different than it was 20 years ago. There’s a lot of competition around the world,” Benesh said. “As a fan of beach volleyball it’s fun to watch, people are playing with different styles in men’s and women’s (competition).”

Weinberg stops lift U.S. in quarterfinal

Adrian Weinberg made two blocks in a penalty shootout to help the United States beat Australia 11-10 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the men’s water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics.

Hannes Daube and Alex Bowen each scored two goals in regulation as the U.S. reached the semifinals at the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Daube and Bowen also converted their penalty shots in the tiebreaker.

“It was exhausting,” U.S. attacker Marko Vavic said. “Both of us fighting for our country, each trying to get to the semifinal. It’s what we’ve been dreaming about since we were kids. Everyone put it down on the line.”

It was the third straight win for the U.S., which will play Serbia on Friday at Paris La Defense Arena. Serbia is trying to become the third men’s team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Croatia will face Hungary in the other semifinal.

Boutier finds home course to her liking

For all the countless times Celine Boutier has played Le Golf National, what carried her to a 7-under 65 and a three-shot lead Wednesday in the Olympics were the two days when she didn’t even have her clubs.

Boutier watched from the gallery over the weekend as the French fans cheered and chanted and sang for Victor Perez and Matthieu Pavon, ovations they rarely hear anywhere else.

When it was her time to perform, the 30-year-old from France delivered a round to remember. On a course so difficult that only two players broke 70, Boutier rolled in seven birdie putts and chipped in for another birdie to steal the show.

“I’m really over the moon with the way the tournament started for me,” said Boutier, who won her first LPGA major last year at the Evian Championship in France.

Le Golf National was a beast — the scoring average was 74.1.

Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa had a 68, and only 10 other players broke par. The group at 70 included Gaby Lopez of Mexico, who birdied her last three holes, and Lilia Vu, the two-time major champion and former No. 1 who played alongside Boutier.

Nelly Korda, the gold medalist at the Tokyo Games, had to push hard to get back to even for the day at 72.

U.S. women take gold in team pursuit

The American women’s pursuit team had twice before raced for the Olympic gold medal, and it had been on the podium all three times the event had been on the program for the Summer Games.

Successful, to be sure, but also disappointing, because it had never been the top step.

On a steamy Wednesday night at the Olympic velodrome, road race champion Kristen Faulkner, time trial bronze medalist Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente and Lilly Williams finally took that last step up. They soared to a big early lead on New Zealand in their head-to-head showdown, then held on through a ragged finish to finally win the gold medal.

“We knew we had a strong team coming in,” Faulkner said with a smile, “and I feel like the lucky one, because they have won medals before on the track and I haven’t. I just wanted to live up to their expectations.”

Did she ever. Faulkner’s relatively recent addition to the squad might have made the difference.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Williams added. “I do not think anybody expected this.”

The Americans led by more than a second a quarter of the way through the 4,000-meter race, and they stretched the gap at one point to nearly two seconds. When they began to come apart from their single-file, aerodynamic draft with about two laps to go, they had to fight to the finish to hold off Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman and Nicole Shields.

Morris gives U.S. rare medal in 61k division

U.S weightlifter Hampton Morris,, a 20-year-old who trains in his garage at home in Marietta, Georgia, became the first U.S. men’s weightlifter to take home a medal of any color at the Games in four decades.

Narrowly missing out on a world record that would have gotten him silver, Morris followed Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton from Los Angeles in 1984 as the most recent American men to medal at the Olympics.

“It’s amazing that I’m able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,” Morris said after finishing third to win the bronze medal in the 61-kilogram division. “I’m just in disbelief.”

Li Fabin of China, the overwhelming favorite, defended his Olympic title.