The USA win at beach volleyball Wednesday night at the London Olympics marked the end of a legacy, but not of the enduring friendship between Misty May-Treanor and partner Kerri Walsh Jennings. Still, when the pair stood on the podium to accept the gold together, they knew it was for the last time. May-Treanor, who has played with Walsh Jennings for over a decade, will be retiring.

It was the third time May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings stood side-by-side to accept gold. The win in London wraps up a Olympic career that has led to a perfect record of 21 wins and no losses, with the pair losing only one set in all of their Olympic competitions. “We played the toughest competition in the world and we’ve withstood every challenge to be hanging out on top,” Walsh Jennings told TODAY's Matt Lauer.  
 
Even though Wednesday was the last time the world will see the two spike on the sand, their partnership is far from over. May-Treanor, who said she's ready for her next journey, said that “I will never leave [Walsh Jennings’] side." She called her time in London "emotional," but added, "I think we learn so much about everything outside of volleyball. That’s what this Olympics signified. It was the journey off the court together, and it’s something we’re never going to forget and we’re going to be in each other’s lives forever.”

Walsh Jennings said of May-Treanor, “I think the world knows that she is the most genuine, amazing woman in the entire world. One in a billion.”
 
The pair have been known for their closeness, which translates to some serious throw-down in competition. “You wanna build momentum and you kind of want to crush the spirit of your competitors,” Walsh Jennings said, detailing a tense moment in the competition Wednesday night.
 
The pair, who beat fellow Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16, said that it isn’t easy to go against members of your team. But according to May-Treanor, the “best way to represent USA beach volleyball is to have a gold medal match USA versus USA. They help elevate our game because they are such wonderful players.”
 
The two best friends revealed a little detail about their pre-game ritual, which starts with Walsh Jennings clearing all sharp edges out of the room. Then May-Treanor's break-dance music comes on, to which she does the eggbeater. “I should probably wear a helmet,” May-Treanor joked.

May-Treanor's husband, Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Matt Treanor, could not attend the game but watched it on his laptop. He spoke to reporters about his wife and her partner, saying, “For them to go back and do this, you can’t say enough about the two of them. They’ve adapted their game, they became better in terms of communication and stuff like that, and the old ladies went out and did it.”
 
“Kerri might kill him for saying ‘old ladies,'” May-Treanor warned, but Walsh Jennings just smiled and said, “This dream is not possible without our husbands and our family and our loved ones."  

Or, apparently, the eggbeater.

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This past Wednesday, the ceremony of Beating Retreat, a military ceremony dating back to 16th-century England, was celebrated with cannons, soldiers on horseback and drummers at Horse Guards Parade in central London. But soon scantily clad athletes will replace soldiers in military regalia on the parade ground, which will serve as the beach volleyball venue for the Olympics.

The surrounding neighborhood, mostly government offices, is in for a bit of a shake-up. But London chairman Lord Sebastian Coe says he's eager to use London’s iconic buildings and landmarks to showcase the Summer Games. He told NBC’s Keith Miller that Horse Guards Parade is the perfect venue because it’s “very readily recognized; Downing Street and the palace (are) at the other end of the park, and I think that’s really what London has to offer.”

Downing Street, the home of Prime Minister David Cameron, is just next to the administration office of the Scotland Office, which flanks the stretch of beach that will be used for the matches. The surrounding neighborhood can expect to hear volleyballs knocking around for the duration of the matches, July 28 to August 12. Over 30 nations will compete for the gold. 

A passerby told Miller, “Here in London we don’t really have beaches, so this is quite fun.” 

London was treated to a taste of what to expect last year when a beach was created in front of the Admiralty House, a venue used to host political functions. And last month, Britain’s beach volleyball team played a game against the backdrop of the Houses of Parliament, under the gaze of Big Ben. Five thousand tons of sand were shipped from a quarry in Southern England for the players to compete on. Though beach volleyball is not played widely in the U.K., tickets fetching up to $715 (for medal matches) were among the fastest to sell out. 

Beach volleyball made its Olympic debut at Atlanta 1996 and is consistently one of the top spectator sports. The venue at the London Olympics has space for thousands of spectators to fill the stands, and even the upper levels will get a treat with views of Big Ben and the London Eye.

So there's a lot to look forward to. Maybe that’s why Miller texted TODAY’s Matt Lauer to get in on Lauer’s plus-one. 

“I got your text message,” Lauer told Miller on air. “Yes, I’ve got the tickets for beach volleyball and you can join me. All right? I’ll see you there.”

TODAY.com contributor Jillian Eugnenios would like to join Matt on the sand as well, just in case he happens to have an extra ticket (hint, hint).

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This morning, Times Square was transformed into a mini-Olympic village and TODAY's Natalie Morales joined in on the fun.

Olympic hopefuls from sports as diverse as BMX through beach volleyball showed off their talent amid the skyscrapers and bright lights of Broadway, while Natalie searched for the spring in her legs to high jump in front of the crowd.

Bear in mind, she'd never high jumped before.

Who better to give her tips than the pros? Dick Fosbury, 1968 gold-medalist and creator of the famed "Fosbury Flop," 1948 gold medalist Alice Coachman, reigning world champion and 2012 Olympic hopeful Jesse Williams, and Jeff Sibka, Paralymic high jumper all coached Natalie on how to clear that daunting bar.

Watch the video above to see if she did it, or if she followed in the footsteps of fellow TODAY anchor, Savannah Guthrie, who had a hard time clearing a hurdle on Rockefeller plaza earlier that day.