It can be hard to remember sometimes because the Olympics only come around every 4 years, which sports are and which are not included?
Beach volleyball is one of the most popular summer Olympic sports ever since it was chosen as a demonstration event in the 1992 Barcelona Games and then added permanently to the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996.
For years now, beach volleyball has dominated the viewership of the Summer Games. Whether it’s because of beautiful athletes in their beach attire, the exciting and unpredictable sport, the party-like atmosphere with cheerleaders and hype or the controversy of all of that bundled together, people tune in to watch!
How Many Beach Volleyball Teams Qualify For The Olympics?
Every Summer Olympics hosts the best 24 teams of each the men and women’s divisions. The first time beach volleyball was officially included in the Summer Games in 1996, the women’s tournament only hosted 16 teams. But the next year the women’s side was expanded to match the 24 male teams, and each has continued with that number since.
How Do Teams Qualify?
Teams qualify through competing in FIVB recognized events during a period of almost 2 years leading up to the Summer Games. To qualify for Tokyo 2020, teams will earn points from June 1st, 2018 to June 28th, 2020. During that time frame, the results from the team’s best 12 performances are counted. A team may also qualify by winning one of the qualifying tournaments.
Beginning in 1996, only 2 teams per country may qualify. Starting in 2000, the hosting country is guaranteed 1 team to enter, while a second may qualify through ranking with enough points. In 2004, a new rule about under-represented continents was added. If no team qualified through the rankings from a particular continent, then the highest-ranked team from that continent earns a spot.
Tournament Format
It seems like every 4 years there’s been a change or a tweak to the tournament format that’s used for Olympic Beach Volleyball. It hasn’t really changed quite that often. What makes it strange is that starting with 24 teams, how do you arrive at an even bracket number of teams?
In it’s the most recent format, the 24 teams begin in 6 pools of 4 teams. The top 2 teams from each pool move on to a single-elimination tournament. But that would only be 12 teams, so 4 more teams are needed to make up an even bracket, this is where it gets confusing.
We take the 6 third-placed teams, the best 2 qualify and are added to the tournament. The other 4 teams will divide up and play what’s called a “lucky loser match” and the 2 winners will advance. Make sense? Does it sound fair? I don’t know, let’s just watch some volleyball!
Now we have your typical 16 teams needed for a normal bracket where you win or get knocked out.
Which Countries Have Medals in Beach Volleyball?
With the sport being such a new addition to the Olympics Summer Games, it’s a surprisingly short list of countries who’ve won a medal in beach volleyball.
Coming from the American perspective since I live in the United States, I’ve always felt like the American team is the most dominant at the sport, but the truth is that Brazil has had the most consistent success overall. While Team USA has taken home half the gold medals that have been handed out in the Olympics, Team Brazil has taken home more because especially over the past few years their Men’s team has been more consistent.
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Brazil | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| USA | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| German | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| China | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Italy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Latvia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 0=Switzerland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Representing The Homeland
One of the aspects of the Olympics that have always impressed me is the home country advantage. It seems that time after time, whichever country is hosting the Olympics seems to have an edge in many of the sports.
In some cases, this is because the home country may get more entries (more athletes qualifying) than they normally would. In other situations, it may be that the individual athletes can more consistently choose to compete because the sacrifice to their time and finances will not be as steep as if they were traveling around the world for several weeks.
When we look at beach volleyball, there does seem to be a noticeable increase in medals for those representing the hosting country:
- In 1996, at the Atlanta Games, the American men took home 2 medals.
- In 2000, at the Sydney Game, the Australian women took the gold.
- In 2004, although not from the hosting country Greece, athletes from the nearby countries Spain and Switzerland won silver and bronze.
- In 2008, Beijing watched the Chinese women’s team claim the silver and the bronze.
- In 2016, in Rio, the Brazilian men earned the gold and the women won the silver.
My question is, who will rise to the top in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics? Will Japan’s team be able to surprise the world?
Related Questions:
Who Won the Last Beach Volleyball World Championship?
This tournament began soon after the game was adopted into the Olympics, and is held every two years on the odd-numbered years. The last Beach Volleyball World Championship was hosted in Hamburg, Germany in 2019.
2019 Beach Volleyball World Championship Results – Women
1. Pavan/Melissa – (CAN)
2. Klineman/Ross – (USA)
3. Clancy/Artacho Del Solar – (AUS)
2019 Beach Volleyball World Championship Results – Men
1. Stoyanovskiy/Krasilnikov (RUS)
2. Thole J./Wickler (GER)
3. Mol A./Sørum, C. (NOR)
Despite this past year’s recent results, if you look at the total medals won at the Beach Volleyball World Championships, Brazil is the dominant force. They’ve earned 31 of the possible 74 total medals over the total span of the tournament’s history.
What Are the New Sports Being Added to the 2020 Olympics?
Baseball/Softball – Technically it’s not NEW, but after being missing for the last 2 Summer Games cycles, it’s coming back.
Karate – Although there are many other martial arts that have a long history in the Olympics, Karate is finally getting its chance.
Skateboarding – After exploding in popularity over the past few decades, Skateboarding will have its debut. The two events will be Park and Street.
Sport Climbing – The rock climbing Olympic events will be divided into 3 categories: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing.
Surfing – Athletes will display their surfing skills before judges and fans on the surf of Shidshita beach outside of Tokyo.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_volleyball_at_the_Summer_Olympics
https://www.fivb.com/en/beachvolleyball
http://hamburg2019.fivb.com/en?_ga=2.134798321.1897438355.1579362801-151533608.1578294961
Photo credits:
Feature image by Craig Maccubbin on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, cropped to zoom.
Austrian player #2 image by Craig Maccubbin on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
China and USA players shake hands image by li yong on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/, cropped to zoom.
Brazillian blocking image by Andre Kiwitz on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Dalhausser blocking image by Craig Maccubbin on flickr.com: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
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