Beach volleyball at the Summer Olympics: Difference between revisions
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In 2012 in [[England]] May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won for the third consecutive Olympiad by defeating the other American team of [[April Ross|Ross]] and [[Jennifer Kessy|Kessy]] in the final match. |
In 2012 in [[England]] May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won for the third consecutive Olympiad by defeating the other American team of [[April Ross|Ross]] and [[Jennifer Kessy|Kessy]] in the final match. |
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It is notable that in each Olympiad |
It is notable that in each Olympiad starting in [[1996]], there was country that won two medals out of three. The Brazilians won the gold and silver medals in 1996, and then the silver and bronze medals in 2000. The Americans won the gold and bronze medals in 2004, and gold and silver medal in 2012, and also the mainland Chinese won the silver and the bronze medals in 2008. This streak was finally broken in 2016 when teams from three different countries won the three medals: [[Germany]] won the gold medal, Brazil won the silver medal, and the United States won the bronze medal, sending the other [[Brazil]]ian team to fourth place |
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== Competition formula == |
== Competition formula == |
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Revision as of 11:03, 25 August 2016
| Beach volleyball at the Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
_pictogram.svg) Beach volley pictogram | |
| Governing body | FIVB |
| Events | 2 (men: 1; women: 1) |
| Games | |
| |
Beach volleyball was introduced at the Summer Olympic Games in the 1992 Games as a demonstration event, and has been an official Olympic sport since 1996.
Brazil has won a gold or a silver medal at every Olympic beach volleyball tournament, in either the men's or women's tournament competition, since its introduction in 1996. The United States has also won at least a bronze medal in every men's or women's tournament in the same period.
Winning the Olympics is considered to be the highest honor in international beach volleyball, followed by the World Championships, and the World Tour of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for men and women.
History
Origins
Beach volleyball was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, at which Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos won the men's tournament, and Karolyn Kirby and Nancy Reno won the women's.
Beach volleyball was introduced as an official Olympic sport in 1996. A total of 24 teams take part in each beach volleyball Olympic tournament. Teams qualify on the basis of their performance in FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) events over the course of about 18 months before the Olympic Games. There is a limit of two teams per country, and one spot apiece is reserved for the host country and a randomly chosen wild-card country. In the event that any Olympic region is not represented, the highest ranked team from that continent qualifies for the tournament.
Men's beach volleyball
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
The men's tournament has had a constant number of teams, with 24 couples in each edition.
In the first tournament, played in the 1996 Olympics, the matches were played at "Atlanta Beach" in Jonesboro, Georgia. The winners of the semifinals played for the gold and silver medals. The losers of the semifinal played for third and fourth places. The final was contested between the Americans Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes versus Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh. Kiraly is so far the only person with Olympic medals in both indoor and beach volleyball since he had won the gold medal indoors in the tournament of 1984 as well as 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
The beach volleyball tournament 0f 2000 was played in Bondi Beach, a suburb of Sydney. The winners were again an American team, Blanton/Fonoimoana, defeating Brazilians Zé Marco/Ricardo (the former had competed in Atlanta) in the finals.
In the 2004 Summer Olympics the tournament was held in the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex, in Athens, Greece. The Brazilians Emanuel/Ricardo (the former being a veteran of two Olympics, and the latter a silver medalist in 2000) won the gold medal, defeating Bosma and Herrera of Spain.
The beach volleyball tournament of 2008 was carried out at the Beach Volleyball Ground, located in the Chaoyang Park in Beijing. In an upset, reigning champions Emanuel and Ricardo were defeated by their compatriots Márcio Araújo (who competed in Athens) and Fábio Luiz in the semifinal. The Brazilians were then defeated by Americans Rogers and Dalhausser in the final.
The 2012 tournament was played at the Horse Guards Parade in London. Emanuel Rego, now paired with Alison Cerutti, got his third straight medal, completing the three podium colors, by reaching the finals, where he lost to Germans Brink and Reckermann. Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Jānis Šmēdiņš from Latvia got the bronze.
Women's beach volleyball
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
In Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996, there were eighteen teams entered, and the championship match was played between two Brazilian teams: Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires versus Mônica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel.
At the Sydney Olympics of 2000, the number of teams was increased to 24. One of the two Australian teams, Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, won the gold medal over the Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede, four years after getting the bronze in Atlanta.
Behar and Bede of Brazil reached the final match again in 2004 in Athens, Greece, but they were defeated by Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States. Both May-Treanor and Walsh were Sydney veterans, but Walsh was part of the U.S. indoor team.
In 2008 in China, May-Treanor and Walsh (now going by the married name Walsh Jennings) were victorious again by defeating the Chinese team of Tian Jia and Wang Jie in the finals.
In 2012 in England May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won for the third consecutive Olympiad by defeating the other American team of Ross and Kessy in the final match.
It is notable that in each Olympiad starting in 1996, there was country that won two medals out of three. The Brazilians won the gold and silver medals in 1996, and then the silver and bronze medals in 2000. The Americans won the gold and bronze medals in 2004, and gold and silver medal in 2012, and also the mainland Chinese won the silver and the bronze medals in 2008. This streak was finally broken in 2016 when teams from three different countries won the three medals: Germany won the gold medal, Brazil won the silver medal, and the United States won the bronze medal, sending the other Brazilian team to fourth place
Competition formula
1996
A double-elimination tournament was played for both men and women until a total of four teams qualified for the semifinals: the two finalist teams of the winners bracket and the two finalist teams of the elimination bracket. The men's field had 24 teams, and the women's field had 16.
Competitors were selected through a detailed Olympic qualification process which saw the participation of a total of 587 men's and women's athletes from 46 countries. Each country could qualify up to two teams - host country United States had two spots already guaranteed, with the doubles selected through Olympic Beach Trials held in Baltimore, Maryland.
2000
Following an expansion on the women's tournament, both competitions had 24 teams. The format became single elimination, preceded by a preliminary round to define the round of 16 teams - the twelve winners of the preliminary games automatically qualified, while the twelve defeated teams played two elimination rounds to get the remaining four spots.
The teams qualify by accumulating points in FIVB Olympic Qualification Tournaments, with one of the host nation having a guaranteed berth and another having the possibility of qualifying through the ranking.
2004
Following a FIVB change of rules in 2001, the scoring was changed from sets of 15 points in a superseded sideout system to sets of 21 points in a rally point system.[1]
The format had the 24 competing teams were split equally into six pools of four. The top two teams from each pool and the four best third placed teams progressed through to a single-elimination tournament of sixteen teams.
The qualifying added a continental quota - in the event of an unrepresented continent, the top team from that continent earned a spot.
2008 and 2012
The six pools of four format was retained, but the qualifying for third-placed teams was changed. Of the six 3rd place teams, two were directly qualified to the playoffs. Of the four remaining third placed teams, another two teams get to the playoffs through winning a lucky loser (repechage) match.
Results summary
Men's tournament
Women's tournament
Participating nations
Men
|
Women
|
Medal table
Total
| 1 |  United States (USA) |
6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 |  Brazil (BRA) |
3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| 3 |  Germany (GER) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 |  Australia (AUS) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 |  China (CHN) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 |  Italy (ITA) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Spain (ESP) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 8 |  Canada (CAN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Latvia (LAT) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Netherlands (NED) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Switzerland (SUI) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 12 | 12 | 12 | 36 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medal table, men
| 1 | United States (USA) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Brazil (BRA) |
2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Germany (GER) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Italy (ITA) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain (ESP) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Canada (CAN) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Latvia (LAT) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Netherlands (NED) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Switzerland (SUI) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medal table, women
| 1 | United States (USA) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Brazil (BRA) |
1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | Australia (AUS) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Germany (GER) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | China (CHN) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
See also
References
External links
- Beach volleyball at the Official website of the FIVB
- Beach volleyball at the Official website of the IOC
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| Summer sports |
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| Winter sports | |
| 2024 addition | |
| 2026 addition | |
| 2028 additions | |
| Past sports | |
| Demonstration sports | |
| Unofficial sports |
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International beach volleyball | ||
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| Asia and Oceania |  | |
| Africa | ||
| Europe | ||
| North America | ||
| South America | ||
| Others | ||
| Discontinued |
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