World champions Todd Rogers and Philip Dalhausser guaranteed themselves at least silver by beating Georgia to reach the men's beach volleyball final.
The US duo were always in control as they beat Brazilian-born Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro 21-11 21-13.
Gomes and Terceiro became Georgian citizens for the Beijing Games to circumvent quotas that limit each country to two teams at the Olympics.
In the final, the Americans will play Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz.
They beat compatriots Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego 22-20 21-18, although the match ended on a note of controversy.
A cross cut shot was judged out but Santos argued that the ball had come off his opponent on the way out of the court.
His protests were overturned and his compatriots celebrated victory.
"Today we made mistakes that we haven't made before, but we will have the will to win our next match and win the bronze," said Santos.
Dalhausser admitted he would have been devastated had the Americans lost their semi-final.
"It's a weight off our shoulders," he said. "I was doing everything not to think about the match, I was going online, watching TV, going to the supermarket."
The Georgian duo were stunned by their loss.
"It sucks," said Terceiro. "Renato struggled with Dalhasusser's block and that made him change his strategy and make a lot of mistakes. It was a bad performance."
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