Twelve months ago, Anders Mol and Christian Sørum had won nothing on the World Tour. For sure, there were the youth titles, yes there was a silver a medal – their first won in Itapema – but never had they won gold on the World Tour.
But then it happened. At the time they were just 21 and 22 years old. In picture-book Gstaad they blitzed the field to win their first title in sensational style. The Vikings had arrived.
Fast forward to today and since that sunny summer’s day inside the Gstaadium 1,050 meters above sea level, they’ve just kept winning. And winning and winning and winning.
Their victory on Saturday was their eighth gold medal in 12 World Tour tournaments. And don’t forget to throw in a European Championship gold medal in there, too.
That’s nine gold medals. It says so much about these two stars that when they won bronze at their first ever World Championships last week in Hamburg they were a little bit disappointed. “We were going for gold,” said Anders, his voice still tinged with a sense of what-might-have-been.
So here, and in Gstaad again. It happened again. They repeated last year’s feat. Their names now etched alongside two legends of beach volleyball, Brazilians Ricardo and Emanuel, as be the only teams in history to win back-to-back golden cowbells in Gstaad.
Anders and Christian are already breaking records. This week they also became the joint-third fastest team in the sport’s history to reach 100 tournament wins as a team when triumphing in the semi-final.
Victory 101 came thanks to a powerhouse performance against Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen. Yet their previous record against their victims was not the greatest. The Dutchmen, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalists, had won six of the previous eight meetings.
Knowing that, the Vikings responded in the only way they knew how.
“Today we played our best game of the tournament for sure,” said Anders afterwards.
But the story, of course, was another golden cowbell. Some of the game’s most decorated players have played at the foot of the beautiful Swiss Alps and never got their hands on one. These boys have two. Already.
“Playing in Gstaad is everyone’s dream,” said Christian. “To win back-to-back in Gstaad is amazing. It’s a fairytale to play here so to win another here, especially this year, is even more of a fairytale.”
So with another cowbell to put on the flight back to picturesque Norway, the Vikings conquer Gstaad a second time.
Next stop, Vienna. Anyone know who won that last year?
