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Anders Mol

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Anders Mol
Personal information
Full nameAnders Berntsen Mol
NationalityNorwegian
Born (1997-07-02) 2 July 1997 (age 27)
Stord, Norway
Height2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb)
Beach volleyball information
Current teammate
Years Teammate
2016– Christian Sørum
Previous teammates
Years Teammate
2014–2016 Mathias Berntsen
Honours
Men's beach volleyball
Representing  Norway
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris Beach
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Rome Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Hamburg Beach
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
Gold medal – first place 2024 João Pessoa Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2024 Hamburg Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2024 Vienna Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2023 Montreal Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2023 Ostrava Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2023 Doha Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2022 Doha The Finals
Gold medal – first place 2022 Cape Town Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2022 Paris Elite 16
Gold medal – first place 2022 Ostrava Elite 16
Silver medal – second place 2023 Doha The Finals
Silver medal – second place 2023 Gstaad Elite 16
Silver medal – second place 2023 Uberlândia Elite 16
Silver medal – second place 2023 Tepic Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Gstaad Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Doha Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Hamburg Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Uberlândia Elite 16
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Rosarito Elite 16
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Gold medal – first place 2021 Cagliari Tour Final
Gold medal – first place 2021 Cancún 2
Gold medal – first place 2021 Cancún 1
Gold medal – first place 2019 Oslo
Gold medal – first place 2019 Vienna
Gold medal – first place 2019 Tokyo
Gold medal – first place 2019 Gstaad
Gold medal – first place 2019 Ostrava
Gold medal – first place 2019 Jinjang
Gold medal – first place 2019 Itapema
Gold medal – first place 2018 Las Vegas
Gold medal – first place 2018 Hamburg Tour Final
Gold medal – first place 2018 Vienna
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gstaad
Silver medal – second place 2019 Warsaw
Silver medal – second place 2018 Itapema
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Rome Tour Final
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Baden
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Espinho
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2021 Vienna Beach
Gold medal – first place 2020 Jurmala Beach
Gold medal – first place 2019 Moscow Beach
Gold medal – first place 2018 Netherlands Beach
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich Beach

Anders Berntsen Mol (born 2 July 1997) is a Norwegian beach volleyball player. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Beach career

[edit]

Mol learned to play beach volleyball as a teenager. His parents introduced him to the sport. Together with Martin Olimstad he competed at the U18 European Championships in Molodetscho. Together with his cousin Mathias Berntsen, Mol competed in multiple national and international tournaments between 2014 and 2017. Berntsen/ Mol won the U20 European Championships 2015 in Larnaka and were U22 Vice European Champions in 2017. Further highlights of the two cousins was a 9th place at a 5-star- event of the world series in Porec and a third place at a 2-star-event in Espinho. 2016 Mol again won the U20 European Championship in Antalya together with Alexander Sorum. Since end of 2016 Mol plays together with Alexanders brother, Christian Sorum, who previously played with Anders own brother, Hendrik. Together with Christian, Mol landed a 5th place at the FIVB-Major in Klagenfurt and won the U22 European Championship in Thessaloniki. 2017 Mol/ Sorum landed a 9th place at the FIVB 5 star tournament in Gstaad, won the CEV Masters in Ljubljana and landed a 5th place at the European Championship in Jurmala. Besides, Mol was “best Newcomer” on the world tour 2017. 2018 Mol/ Sorum landed in 5th place at the 4-star tournament in Den Haag. There followed many more top 10 placings, including a 5th place in Xiamen, a second place in Itapema, a 5th place in Espinho and the win in Gstaad. In July, Mol/ Sorum became European Champions in the Netherlands. Then they also won the 5-star tournament in Vienna and climbed to the top of the world ranking after winning 19 times in a row. They even won the World Tour Final in Hamburg. With that win the duo landed their forth FIVB World Tour gold medal in a row and earned them the highest ever prize money in the history of beach volleyball, taking home 150,000 $ in total.[1] Mol finished the 2018/2017 season with four FIVB awards, Best Blocker, Best Offensive Player, Most Outstanding Player and Most Improved.

The duo was also dominating the world tour season 2018/19. They won 4-star tournaments in Las Vegas, Itapema, Jinjiang, Ostrava und landed a second place in Warsaw. At the world championship in Hamburg they lost in the semifinal against the German team Thole/ Wickler landed a third place in the end. The following tournaments in Gstaad, Tokyo, and Vienna they claimed gold. At the European Championship in Moscow Mol/Sorum defended their title. At the World Tour Finals in Rome Mol/Sorum won a bronze medal. Mol finished the 2019/2018 year with another four FIVB awards, Best Blocker, Best Setter, Best Attacker and Most Outstanding Player. Mol/Sorum also won the FIVB Most Outstanding Team.

In 2020, Mol/Sorum once again defended their European Championship title winning gold in Jurmala, Latvia. This win made them the third team in history to win a European Championship three years in a row. At 23 and 24, respectively they are the youngest team to achieve this feat.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the pair won gold medals, beating Russians Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy in the finals. The pairing of Anders Mol and Christian Sorum defeated the Russian Olympic Committee's Viachelslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy in straight sets, 21-17, 21-18. Both sets were tightly contested, through Norway rarely relinquished control.

They won gold at the 2021 European Championship in Vienna, becoming the first team to win it four times and the first team to win four consecutive times.[2]

Indoor career

[edit]

In 2016, Mol also played indoors in the Norwegian U20 national team as an outside hitter. In the 2016/17 season he became Belgian vice champion and also played in the Champions League.[3]

In 2019 Mol signed a temporary contract with the club Førde volleyballKlubb. In 2020 he won the Norwegian Championship with the club before going back to beach volleyball.

Private life

[edit]

Mols parents Merita Berntsen and Kåre Mol are former Volleyball/ Beach Volleyball Champions and now coaches. His four siblings are also active in volleyball and beach volleyball today.[4] One of his brothers, Hendrik Mol, initially played with Anders' future partner Christian Sorum. The Mol brothers and Sorum brothers met while they all attended the volleyball-focused educational program ToppVolley Norge at Sauda Videregående, in Ryfylke.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Anders Berntsen Mol - Biography". www.redbull.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  2. ^ "Mol & Sørum make history with fourth EuroBeachVolley title". Eurobeachvolley. 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  3. ^ "Anders Mol signerte for belgisk toppklubb". www.ba.no (in Norwegian). 2016-07-20. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  4. ^ "Denne familien fostrer stortalenter". www.bt.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  5. ^ "Det unike forholdet mellom gullguttene: – Min beste venn". www.vg.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2021-08-07.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Preceded by Men's FIVB Beach Volley World Tour Winner
alongside Norway Christian Sørum

2018
2019
Succeeded by
Awards
Preceded by
 Gustavo Carvalhaes (BRA)
Men's FIVB World Tour "Top Rookie"
2017
Succeeded by
 Igor Velichko (RUS)
Preceded by Men's FIVB World Tour "Best Blocker"
2018
2019
Succeeded by
Discontinued
Preceded by Men's FIVB World Tour "Best Offensive Player"
2018
2019
Succeeded by
Discontinued
Preceded by
 Sam Pedlow (CAN)
Men's FIVB World Tour "Most Improved Player"
2018
Succeeded by
Discontinued
Preceded by Men's FIVB World Tour "Most Outstanding Player"
2018
2019
Succeeded by
Discontinued
Preceded by Men's FIVB World Tour "Team of the Year"
alongside Norway Christian Sørum

2018
2019
Succeeded by
Discontinued
Preceded by Men's FIVB World Tour "Best Setter"
2019
Succeeded by
Discontinued