Beach Volleyball 2016 Rio Olympic Review

Men’s Tournament

It was a rather convoluted system for the beach volleyball tournament, as 24 teams played in six groups to be whittled down to 16 teams. Only four teams came through unbeaten. They were Krasilnikov/Semenov (Russia), Diaz/Gonzalez (Cuba), Dalhausser/Lucena (United States) and Brouwer/Meeuwsen (Netherlands). All those teams progressed through the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, an all-Dutch matchup saw Brouwer/Meeuwsen come through. Cerutti/Schmidt (Brazil) overcame Dalhausser/Lucena in a third set. It once again took three sets in the semi-final, but the Brazilian duo manage to come through. In the final, they met Lupo/Nicolai (Italy) who had also come through two three-setters. In the final, it was the Brazilian pair who won the gold in straight sets, much to the acclaim of the home crowd.

🥇Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt 🇧🇷

🥈Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai 🇮🇹

🥉Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen 🇳🇱

Women’s Tournament

Once again, the majority of the 24 teams qualified for the round of 16. All groups were won by unbeaten teams; Larissa/Talita (Brazil), Elsa/Liliana (Spain), Ross/Walsh-Jennings (United States), Ludwig/Walkenhorst (Germany), Bansley/Pavan (Canada) and Bawden/Clancy (Australia). Only one of those teams didn’t make it to the quarter-final, as the Spanish team was beaten by Birlova/Ukolova (Russia). The American and German pairs both came through the quarter-finals in straight sets and were joined by the two Brazilian teams, who won three-set games. Ludwig/Walkenhorst beat Larissa/Talita in straight sets and were joined in the final by Agatha/Barbara (Brazil) who stopped the American team. In the final, it was a straight sets victory for the German team.

🥇Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst 🇩🇪

🥈Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas 🇧🇷

🥉April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings 🇺🇸