Kent Steffes
| Kent Steffes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | June 23, 1968 (age 56) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| College / University | Stanford University, UCLA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kent Steffes (born June 23, 1968) is an American former professional beach volleyball player.
Steffes received his AAA beach rating while still attending Palisades High School. He was named the 1986 National High School Player of the Year. He enrolled at Stanford University and played for one season before transferring to UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in economics. While a Bruin he joined the AVP Tour full-time in 1988.
Steffes earned the AVP No. 1 ranking at age 22, the youngest player to do so in the history of the sport. Steffes and his partner Karch Kiraly won the inaugural beach volleyball gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. That same year, he was selected as the MVP of the AVP.
In his career, Steffes teamed with numerous partners to win 110 events, and has the highest winning percentage in the history of the sport (48.6%). By the time Steffes retired in 1999, he had won over $2,500,000 in prizes.
In 2004, Steffes was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame. In 2020, Steffes was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame as an All-Time Great Male Beach Player.