The third seeds thus became the second women's team from the United States to win the Gstaad title, following Olympic and world champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who won it six times between 2002 and 2012.

When asked if the gold medal at the Eisbahnareal venue was the most satisfying of the 25 FIVB titles she had won, the 37-year old Ross replied:  “Yes, we were so frustrated after losing the gold medal match in Hamburg last week.

“That frustration carried over to our matches this week.

“This was a big win for us as a team.”

Klineman and Ross have now won four World Tour gold medals in 15 FIVB appearances together since January 2018.

With the Tokyo 2020 test event looming in two weeks, the FIVB World Tour will stage two more qualifying events for the Summer Games – in Espinho, Portugal and Edmonton, Canada.

Following the Tokyo event, the World Tour returns to Europe for the Vienna Major from July 30 to August 4 in the Austrian capital.

Today’s victory earned the Americans 1,200 Olympic qualifying points for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games along with the $40,000 (£32,000/€35,500) first-place prize.

Antonelli and Carolina split $32,000 (£25,500/€28,000) for finishing second along with 1,080 points for Olympic consideration.

The gold medal meeting was set up this morning when Klineman and Ross rallied from an 18-11 deficit in the first set to win 22-20, 21-17 against Swiss top seeds Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli.

Antonelli and Carolina advanced with a 21-16, 21-16 semi-final win over fifth-seeded compatriots Ana Patricia Silva and Rebecca Cavalcanti.

In the bronze medal match, Silva and Cavalcanti  earned a 21-14, 21-12 win over the home pairing.