It was close, but no cigar for Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas…

The Brazilian beach volleyball players, the reigning FIVB Beach Volleyball world champions, lost to Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst in the gold medal match on Copacabana Beach at the 2016 Rio Games.

The 21-18, 21-14 victory gave Germany its first medal in women’s beach volleyball, just four years after the German men took the top spot on the Olympic podium at the 2012 London Games.

Bednarczuk and Seixas’ loss comes on the heels of their victory over April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who was gunning for her fourth straight Olympic gold in beach volleyball.

In that semifinal match, Bednarczuk and Seixas overcame a two-point deficit in the first set and scored points on two significant rallies in the second set to defeat the Americans.

Seeded second in the competition, Bednarczuk and Seixas had posted a 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) win in 48 minutes over the third-seeded Americans in the fifth international meeting between the two teams.  Ross and Walsh Jennings had won the previous two matches and led 3-1 heading into the Rio semifinal.