Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin were last night (Thursday) eliminated 
from the beach volleyball competition following a “lucky loser “defeat against Austria at Horse Guards Parade. Team GB’s duo were given a lifeline when they finished third in Group F, but a late evening loss to Austria’s Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger meant they failed to progress to the final 16.Dampney and Mullin lost 21-15, 21-12 to the Austrian pairing, after losing two of their three group games.
Despite being disappointed with the end of her Olympic campaign, Mullin praised the crowd for their support.She said: “We had a good time tonight – playing under the floodlights at home in front of a massive crowd, it was unbelievable. All week the crowd have been there through the ups and the downs cheering us on.”They made every moment feel even better than it was. It was really great.”For a sport largely unknown in the UK it has received a great response at the Games. Mullin said: “It’s great the reception the sport has had in the UK – how much people have loved it and want to get involved – that has been very positive for the sport which was one of our goals from the Olympics.
“We’ll look back at this and really enjoy it . But we’re just a bit dazed and confused now that it’s over. We won a match here in our first Olympics – but what we’ve really achieved maybe won’t be evident until we’re able to sit back and look at it.”Dampney added: “The Olympics is hopefully a springboard for better things for beach volleyball in this country, we need to start a petition to get a grand slam event here.“We’re happy but we were just inconsistent with our performances – when we played well we played really well and could compete with the best in the world. But it’s about getting that consistency across the match.”
