Iconic Copocabana Beach will add even more to the statistical history of beach volleyball at the Olympic Games over the next two-plus weeks.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 2, 2016 — Displaying a major presence and involvement for the next three weeks in Brazil, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) we take another quick look at some of the significant stats from teams and individuals who have earned a spot in the Beach Volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The beach volleyball competition, featuring 24 two-person teams in each gender will be held in the 12,000-set purpose-built stadium on the sands of iconic Copacabana Beach.
This year marks only the second time in six Olympic Games that have included Beach Volleyball as a medal sport that the stadium was built on a beach. The other time was the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Australia where beach volleyball was held at Bondi Beach.

ROAD TO RIO
The Olympic qualification process began in 2015 with all FIVB World Tour events (except the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals) in 2015 through June 12, 2016 counted towards the World Ranking in order to determine 15 spots for each gender that will take part in each 24-team field in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Copacabana Beach in Brazil in August. Brazil also was awarded two additional spots (which allowed two addition FIVB World Tour tandems a spot in the top 15) in the field of 24, one in each gender as the host nation and the other as winning both the men and women’s gold medals in the 2015 FIVB World Championships in the Netherlands.
The remaining seven teams have earned their spots in Rio by way of five Continental Cup competitions by the five FIVB geographic Confederations and from the FIVB Continental Cup Finals held in Sochi, Russia in June.
BRAZIL’S FIVB HISTORY

Visiting the country where the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour was born, this is the fifth time this year that the FIVB has had an event in Brazil. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first FIVB beach volleyball event held Feb. 17-22, 1987 in Rio. The gold medal was won by USA’s Sinjin Smith/Randy Stokles.
Overall, counting four events so far this year, Brazil has hosted 77 total previous FIVB World Tour events, at least one has been held every season that the FIVB has played beach volleyball. Rio de Janeiro has hosted 25 total events, including the 1999 World Championships. Fortaleza has hosted 11 events, followed by Vitória with 10 total events, followed by BrasÃlia with eight total events and Salvador with seven. There have been 41 total men’s events and 36 total women’s events in Brazil.
In the medal count for events held in the South American country, Brazil is far ahead in both genders. For the men, Brazil has 68 total medals followed by the United States with 25, Germany 6, Switzerland 6, Argentina 4, Netherlands 3, Poland 3, Canada 2, Latvia 2, China 1, Cuba 1, Italy 1, Mexico 1 and Norway 1.
In women’s medals for FIVB events held in Brazil, Brazil tops the chart with 62 total medals followed again by the USA with 30, Germany 5, Australia 3, Netherlands 3, Italy 2, China 1, Japan 1, Germany 1 and Poland 1.
NOW, THE STATS
With the sixth consecutive Olympic Games featuring Beach Volleyball as a medal sport, here are some tantalizing tidbits of interesting info regarding this year’s colorful countries and amazing athletes:
• Twenty-four (24) countries will fill berths for the Rio 2016 Olympic Beach Volleyball competition. All five FIVB confederations will be represented in the competition.
Asia - 1 men’s and 3 women’s teams; Africa - 1 men’s and 1 women’s teams; Europe - 13 men’s and 11 women’s teams; NORCECA - 6 men’s and 5 women’s teams; South America - 3 men’s and 4 women’s teams
• Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands and the United States will have the maximum number of teams allowed – four (4).

With Chile (men), Costa Rica (women), Egypt (women), Qatar (men) and Tunisia (men) sending a team to the Olympics for the first-time, a total of 41 countries will now have a team that has participated in the Summer Games’ Beach Volleyball competition.
1. Argentina - 1 women’s team; 2. Australia - 2 women’s teams; 3. Austria - 2 men’s teams; 4. Brazil - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams; 5. Canada - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams; 6. Chile - 1 men’s team (first-time for country); 7. China 1 women’s team; 8. Costa Rica - 1 women’s team (first-time for country); 9. Cuba - 1 men’s team; 10. Czech Republic - 1 women’s team; 11. Egypt - 1 women’s team (first-time for country); 12. Germany - 1 men’s and 2 women’s teams; 13. Italy - 2 men’s and 1 women’s teams; 14. Latvia - 1 men’s team; 15. Mexico - 1 men’s team; 16. Netherlands - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams; 17. Poland - 2 men’s and 1 women’s teams (first-time for women); 18. Qatar - 1 men’s team (first-time for country); 19. Russia - 2 men’s and 1 women’s teams; 20. Spain - 1 men’s and 1 women’s teams; 21. Switzerland - 2 women’s teams; 22. Tunisia - 1 men’s team (first-time for country); 23. United States - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams; 24. Venezuela - 1 women’s team (first-time for women)
• A total of six teams and 22 players will be repeat Olympians. Of the 34 players (17 men and 17 women) with Olympic experience, two have won Olympic gold medals (Phil Dalhausser and Kerri Walsh Jennings), three have claimed silver (Alison Cerutti, Pablo Herrera and April Ross) and two have netted bronze (Larissa Franca and Janis Smedins). Two players will become four-time Beach Volleyball Olympians (Herrera and Walsh Jennings)
Men’s Teams
1. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria (London 2012. Doppler competed in Beijing 2008 with Peter Gartmayer and Horst with Florian Gosch. Doppler also qualified for Athens 2004, but was replaced by Gosch due to a knee injury.); 2. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (London 2012); 3. Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (London 2012); 4. Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain (London 2012. Herrera won the Athens 2004 silver medal with Javier Bosma and competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympics with Raul Mesa)
Women’s Teams
1. Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia (London 2012); 2. Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain (London 2012)
Men’s Players
1. Dmitri Barsouk, Russia (Beijing 2008 with Igor Kolodinsky); 2. Josh Binstock, Canada (London 2012 with Martin Reader); 3. Alison Cerutti, Brazil (London 2012 silver medal winner with Emanuel Rego); 4. Phil Dalhausser, United States (Beijing 2008 gold medal winner, London 2012 with Todd Rogers); 5. Jake Gibb, United States (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Sean Rosenthal); 6. Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Richard Schuill); 7. Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia (Beijing 2008 with Martins Plavins and London 2012 with Ruslans Sorokins); 8. Konstantin Semenov, Russia (London 2012 with Serguey Prokopyev); 9. Janis Smedins, Latvia (London 2012 bronze medal winner with Plavins)
Women’s Players
1. Talita Antunes, Brazil (Beijing 2008 with Renata Ribeiro and London 2012 with Maria Antonelli); 2. Louise Bawden, Australia (London 2012 with Becchara Palmer); 3. Larissa Franca, Brazil (Beijing 2008 with Ana Paula Connolly and London 2012 bronze medal winner with Juliana Felisberta); 4. Ana Gallay, Argentina (London 2012 with Virginia Zonta); 5. Laura Ludwig, Germany (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Sarah Goller Niedrig); 6. Marta Menegatti, Italy (London 2012 with Greta Cicolari); 7. Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands (London 2012 with Sophie Van Gestel); 8. April Ross, United States (London 2012 silver medal winner with Jen Kessy); 9. Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic (London 2012 with Kristyna Kolocova); 10. Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (London 2012 with Sanne Keizer); 11. Sophie Van Gestel, Netherlands (London 2012 with Meppelink); 12. Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 gold medal winner with Misty May-Treanor); 13. Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (London 2012 with Simone Kuhn)
FIVB World Championships
• Six Rio Olympic teams have won medals at FIVB World Championships.
1. Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil (2015 gold); 2. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands (2013 gold); 3. Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil (2015 gold, Barbara won 2013 bronze with Liliane Maestrini); 4. Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands (2015 silver); 5. Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany (2013 silver); 6. Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil (2015 bronze)

• Four Rio Olympic players have won medals at FIVB World Championships.
1. Larissa Franca, Brazil (2011 gold, 2005 and 2009 silver, 2007 bronze with Juliana Felisberta); 2. Dmitri Barsouk, Russia (2007 silver with Igor Kolodinsky); 3. April Ross, United States (2009 gold with Jen Kessy); 4. Kerri Walsh Jennings (2003 and 2007 gold with Misty May-Treanor, 2011 silver with May-Treanor)
MISCELLANEOUS STATS
Men

Average Age: 29; Average Experience: 10 years; Average Height: 6-5
Youngest: 21 years old—Cherif Younousse, Qatar; 22—Navaldo Diaz, Cuba; 24—Piotr Kantor, Poland and Bartosz Losiak, Poland
Oldest: 40—Jake Gibb, United States; 39—Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands; 36—Nick Lucena, United States; Dmitri Barsouk, Russia, Phil Dalhausser, United States and Casey Patterson, United States
Olympic Birthdays: August 6—Paolo Nicolai, Italy (27)
Least Experienced: 2 years—Choaib Belhaj, Tunisa and Mohamed Naceur, Tunisa; 3—Cherif Younousse, Qatar; 4—Nivaldo Diaz, Cuba
Most Experienced: 20 years—Clemens Doppler, Austria; 18—Dmitri Barsouk, Russia; 17—Jake Gibb, United States; 16—Pablo Herrera, Spain; 15—Alexander Huber, Austria; Nick Lucena, United States and Pedro Solberg, Brazil
Shortest: 5-11—Alexander Huber, Austria; 6-0—Jefferson Santos Pereira, Qatar and Adrian Carambula, Italy; 6-1—Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil
Tallest: 6-11—Christian Varenhorst, Netherlands; Evandro Goncalves, Brazil and Konstantin Semenov, Russia; 6-9—Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands and Phil Dalhausser, United States
Women

Average Age: 28; Average Experience: 10 years; Average Height: 5-11
Youngest: 18—Nada Meawad, Egypt; 19—Doaa Elghobashy; 22—Mariafe Artacho, Australia and Fan Wang, China
Oldest: 37—Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States; 34—Louise Bawden, Australia; Lauren Fendrick, United States; Isabelle Forrer, Switzerland; Larissa Franca, Brazil and April Ross, United States
Olympic Birthdays: August 7—Louise Bawden, Australia (34); August 11—Ekaterina Birlova, Russia (28); August 14—Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy (25); August 15—Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (37); August 16—Sarah Pavan, Canada (29) and Marta Menegatti, Italy (25)
Least Experienced:1 year—Doaa Elghobashy, Egypt and Nada Meawad, Egypt; 4—Karen Charles, Costa Rica; Georgina Klug, Argentina and Sarah Pavan, Canada
Most Experienced: 17 seasons—Isabelle Forrer, Switzerland; 16—Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States; 14—Talita Antunes, Brazil; Larissa Franca, Brazil; Marleen Van Iersel; Laura Ludwig, Germany and Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland
Shortest: 5-5—Natalia Alfaro, Costa Rica; 5-7—Norisbeth Agudo, Venezuela and Heather Bansley, Canada
Tallest: 6-5—Sarah Pavan, Canada; 6-3—Joana Heidrich, Switzerland; Nicole Laird, Australia; Lauren Fendrick, United States and Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States
FIVB WORLD TOUR TEAM GOLD MEDALS
• The 48 teams participating in the Rio 2016 Olympics have combined for the following totals from the FIVB World Tour.
Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil, 13; April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, 10; Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, 9; Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia, 9; Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany, 7; Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States, 5; Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil, 4; Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, 3; Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands, 3; Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain, 2; Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands, 2; Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia, 2; Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, United States, 2; Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, 2; Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany, 2; Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy, 2; Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil, 2; Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland, 1; Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, 1; Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada, 1; Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland, 1; Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland, 1; Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy, 1; Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia, 1; Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter, Canada, 1; Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic, 1; • Jefferson Santos Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar, 1
ON THE HORIZON
Brazil is hosting five international events in 2016. In addition to Maceió, Rio, Vitoria and Fortaleza, the Brazil events will be capped with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Aug. 6-18). After the Swatch A1FIVB Klagenfurt Major last week, one more event remains on the 2016 FIVB World Tour schedule followed by the finals.
Following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, there are two more events scheduled on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar. First event scheduled is in the United States--the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball at the $800,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam (Aug. 23-28, Southern California) and the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals (Sept. 13-18, Toronto, Canada). The Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals, with $100,000 going to each winning team, will feature the top eight point leaders in each gender from the current FIVB World Tour plus four wild card teams in each gender.
GROWING HISTORY
The ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball at the $800,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam in the United States will be the 350th men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 311th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992.
FIVB 2016
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland as the international governing body for the Olympic sports of Beach Volleyball and Volleyball, the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar features a purse of US$8.25 million with a season that extends from last October to this October, competing at 22 venues in 12 countries. The schedule includes four FIVB Grand Slams, four Swatch FIVB Major Series events, 13 FIVB Opens and the special Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals. The showcase event will be the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil (Aug. 6-18).
The 2015 portion of the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar started in October in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and included two more open events prior to the remainder of the schedule resuming at the FIVB Kish Island Open in Iran in February.
FIVB EVENT FORMAT
Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments – whether FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, FIVB Beach Volleyball Grand Slam or FIVB Beach Volleyball Open – are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds. Country Quota playoffs returned as needed in 2015 to determine the final teams for the qualification tournament.
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