Florida has a lot of beaches. So it's no surprise that Central Florida has one of the best beach volleyball players of all time. Phil Dalhausser has competed in every Summer Olympics since 2008, but he told WESH 2 that he won't be seeing him in Paris this summer. From Mainland High to UCF to an Olympic gold medal, few Central Florida residents have experienced the feeling of standing on an Olympic podium and winning a gold medal like Dalhausser. “It's like the best feeling of my life multiplied by 100 because I put so much time and effort into it. My life was dedicated to this sport, and the ultimate goal was a gold medal. To achieve that is just crazy,” Dalhausser said. Dalhausser is one of the most humble people you'll ever meet. His gold medal is in a drawer in his bedroom. But he can be ecstatic about what he's accomplished in the sport if he can show the kids at the academy what he's accomplished. “Once in a while, I'll let my kids see it. I don't think a lot of people get to see a gold medal, so I get joy out of that,” Dalhausser said. Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics Dalhausser will miss since his Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games. But he knows the U.S. beach volleyball situation is in very good shape. “If I was a betting man, I would bet on them winning a medal. The U.S. women have the best feeder system because they have women's college beach volleyball,” Dalhausser said. The 6-foot-9 Dalhausser is nicknamed “The Skinny Beast” or “The Beachfront Monster.” Dalhausser continues to give back to the sport that has been so good to him. “I'm not doing this for the money, because there's not a lot of money to be made, so like I said before, I want to grow the beach game in Central Florida,” Dalhausser said.
There's no shortage of beaches in Florida, so it's no surprise that Central Florida is home to one of the greatest beach volleyball players of all time.
Phil Dalhausser has competed in every Summer Olympics since 2008, but told WESH 2 we won't be seeing him in Paris this summer.
From Mainland High School to UC San Francisco to Olympic gold medals, few Central Floridians have had the experience of standing on an Olympic podium and winning a gold medal like Dalhausser.
“It's the best feeling of my life multiplied by 100 because I dedicated my life to this sport. My ultimate goal was to win a gold medal and to achieve that is just crazy,” Dalhausser said.
Dalhausser is one of the most humble people you'll ever meet — his gold medals are in a drawer in his bedroom — but he can be elated about what he's accomplished in the sport when he's able to show the kids at the academy what he's accomplished.
“Sometimes I put on a show for my kids, and I get joy out of it because I don't think that many people get to see a gold medal,” Dalhausser said.
Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics Dalhausser has missed since making his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008, but he knows the state of U.S. beach volleyball is in very good shape.
“If I were a betting person, I would bet on them winning a medal. For women, the U.S. women's development system is the best because now we have women's collegiate beach volleyball,” Dalhausser said.
Dalhausser, who stands 6 feet 9 inches tall, has been nicknamed “the skinny beast” and “the beachfront weirdo.”
Dalhausser continues to give back to the sport that has been so good to him.
“I'm not doing this for the money, because there's not a lot of money to be made, so like I said before, I want to grow the beach game in Central Florida,” Dalhausser said.
