Brazil competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's nineteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, excluding the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. The Brazilian Olympic Committee sent the nation's largest ever delegation in history to the Games. A total of 243 athletes, 124 men and 119 women, competed in 24 sports.
Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly is an American volleyball player, coach, and broadcast announcer. He was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He went on to win the gold medal again at the 1996 Olympic Games, the first Olympic competition to feature beach volleyball. He is the only player to have won Olympic medals of any color in both the indoor and beach volleyball categories. He played college volleyball for the UCLA Bruins, where his teams won three national championships under head coach Al Scates. Kiraly is widely regarded as the greatest male volleyball player of all time.
Canada has competed at 28 Summer Olympic Games, missing only the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics. This count includes the 1906 Olympic Games, deemed unofficial 43 years after they were held. The nation made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Canada competes under the IOC country code CAN.
Gilberto Amauri de Godoy Filho, known as Giba, is a Brazilian former professional volleyball player who played as an outside hitter. For much of the 2000s, he was widely regarded as one of the best volleyball players in the world. During his professional career he played in Brazil, Italy, Russia, Argentina and briefly in the United Arab Emirates. He is mostly remembered for his successes with the national team.
Pablo Herrera Allepuz is a Spanish beach volleyball player who has represented his country five times at the Olympics.
Stefan Nimke is an Olympic and world champion track cyclist from Germany.
Reinder Aart Nummerdor is a Dutch volleyball player who represented his native country at five consecutive Summer Olympics. Two times as a member of the indoor volleyball team in 2000 and 2004, and three more times after switching to beach volleyball.
Larissa França Maestrini is a beach volleyball player from Brazil. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with Juliana Felisberta and the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour with Talita Antunes.
José Marco "Zé Marco" Nóbrega Ferreira de Melo is a former beach volleyball player from Brazil who won the silver medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, partnering with Ricardo Santos. He also represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Emanuel Fernando Sheffer Rego is a male former beach volleyball player from Brazil who competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. He won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, partnering with Ricardo Santos. He famously offered his medal to his compatriot Vanderlei de Lima – who won a bronze in the men's marathon after being attacked by Neil Horan – a year later, though it was politely declined.
José Geraldo Loiola is a former beach volleyball player from Brazil. He won the gold medal at the 1999 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Marseille, France, partnering with Emanuel Rego.
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.
Mārtiņš Pļaviņš is a Latvian beach volleyball player.
Sean Michael Rosenthal is an American beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. He is best known for his high leaping ability, which has earned him the nickname of "Superman". Rosenthal has an entourage called "Rosie's Raiders", which is composed of close friends of his who enjoy going to his various tournaments to support him. He and his former partner, Jake Gibb, represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games and 2012 Olympic Games in beach volleyball.
Sandro Ricardo Rodrigues Viana is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Brazil.
The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. U.S. athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow which they boycotted in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The USOC sent a total of 530 athletes to the Games, 262 men and 268 women, to compete in 25 sports. For the first time in its Olympic history, the United States was represented by more female than male athletes.
Kay Matysik is a German male beach volleyball player. He competed for Germany at the 2012 Summer Olympics with team-mate Jonathan Erdmann. They were knocked out in the last 16. The same pair won the bronze medal at the 2013 Beach Volleyball World Championships, beating former world champions Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego in the bronze medal match.
Daniele Lupo is an Italian beach volleyball player. He competed for Italy at the 2016 Summer Olympics and at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Along with partner, Paolo Nicolai, he won the silver medal in men's beach volleyball in 2016. He was the flag bearer for Italy during the closing ceremony.
Adrián Gavira Collado is a Spanish beach volleyball player. He currently plays with Pablo Herrera. The pair participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics tournament and lost in the round of 16 to Brazilians Ricardo Santos and Pedro Cunha.
