First-Time Olympic Beach Volleyball Pair, Miles Evans And Chase Budinger Shine Underneath The Eiffel Tower

PARIS — With the Eiffel Tower looming in the background, the host country was unable to channel the power of the tower to take a set from the U.S. men in beach volleyball in the opening round of Pool F. 

Playing in their first Olympic match together, the American duo of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger dominated France’s Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in a rowdy and sun-soaked Eiffel Tower Stadium. It was a significant achievement as they have struggled against this French pair in recent meetings and had to overcome the nerves of an opening match at an Olympic Games.

“They've had our number. They beat us the last three times in a row, so because of that we knew we had to come out strong,” said Budinger. “They had that leverage over us. I thought we did a great job getting out to a quick start."

The biggest challenge the Americans may have faced was the raucous home crowd supporting the French team with loud chants of “Allez Les Bleus” that floated across the Champ-de-Mars and even those getting a birds-eye from the viewing platforms of France’s iconic landmark.

The Americans didn’t seem too affected by the noise as Evans and Budinger quickly established a lead that the French duo was unable to recover from to get back in the match. The U.S. team completed the 2-0 final score taking the first set 21-14 and finishing off the second set by a dominating score of 21-11.

"It's one of the best starts we could imagine,” said Evans who admitted to feeling the nerves on such a big stage. “We've been preparing for this for a long time. It's nice to calm the nerves when all the big excitement is there. I am super thankful we were able to overcome that."

The other challenge faced by both teams was trying to beat the heat on what turned out to be the hottest day of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 thus far. A brilliant blue sky and a beautifully decorated stadium made it feel like a beach day in the south of France.  

Evans, a 34-year-old Californian and first-time Olympian is a lifelong volleyballer who seems to have formed a formidable new partnership with Budinger. His fellow California native, who at 36 years old, successfully transitioned from a 7-year career in the NBA to the heights of the sport of volleyball to compete at his first Olympic Games.

"It took me six years, it took me a long time to finally achieve this,” said Budinger who retired from basketball in 2017. “I am here competing at the Olympics. And there is no better feeling.”

In what is quickly being recognized as the best Olympic venue at these Games, the stadium sparkled with color in the summer sun and seemed to validate the organizer’s decision to build the venue in one of the world’s most famous locations. The American duo is back on the sand tomorrow night in Paris up against the Netherlands.

Lisa Costantini has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than a decade, including for the International Olympic Committee. She is a freelance writer who has contributed to TeamUSA.com since 2011.