HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Kerri Walsh, one-half of the team that won the Olympic gold medal in Athens and the top hope for a U.S. victory in Beijing, withdrew from a tournament today because of lingering effects from right shoulder surgery.

"I thought I could push through it; I can't," she said after she and partner Misty May-Treanor withdrew from a $25,000, winner-take-all event Sunday following the Huntington Beach Open. "I don't think I've injured it. I just think after surgery you take two steps forward and two steps back, and this is the first step back."

Walsh and May-Treanor won the gold medal in 2004 and they clinched a berth in Beijing a year early, winning all eight of the international tournaments they played in last year as Olympic qualifiers. Walsh had surgery in November to clean up to remove the bone chips, bone spurs and scar tissue that had been building up in her right shoulder, but said she didn't expect it to slow her down.

They won the Huntington Beach Open on Saturday — their third victory in three events on the AVP tour so far this season. But they had to withdraw from Sunday's follow-up Cuervo Gold Crown competition, a playoff among the top four teams in the point standings so far this year.

"I kind of tweaked it after during the day Saturday, and in the final I wasn't very good," Walsh said. "(It's) really disappointing because this is a big tournament but you know, big picture."

Walsh and May-Treanor beat Jenny Johnson-Jordan and Annett Davis, 21-14, 21-12 in the Gold Crown series semifinal Sunday morning but pulled out before the finals. Second-seeded Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh earned the $25,000 bonus.

On the men's side, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal beat John Hyden and Brad Keenan 21-18, 21-16. Hyden and Keenan beat top men's seed Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rodgers in the semifinals.