The men's beach volleyball event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, was held at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre located at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex.
Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 having won 135 international and domestic tournaments.
Misty Elizabeth May-Treanor is a retired American professional beach volleyball player. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and as of August 2012, was the most successful female beach volleyball player having won 112 tournaments in domestic and international competition.
Volleyball has been part of the Summer Olympics program for both men and women consistently since 1964.
Philip Peter Dalhausser is an American former professional beach volleyball player, who played as a blocker. He and his former playing partner, Todd Rogers, were the 2007 AVP Tour and FIVB world champions.
Sanne Keizer is a Dutch beach volleyball player who plays as a right-side defender with her partner Madelein Meppelink. Her career highlights include two gold, two silver and four bronze medals on the FIVB World Tour. She is a two-time European Champion and she represented the Netherlands at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing ninth with Marleen van Iersel.
Laura Ludwig-Bowes is a German professional beach volleyball player, playing as a defender. Previously forming a pair with compatriot Kira Walkenhorst, she represents Hamburger SV and has won four European championships. She won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She added another medal, Gold, at the 2016 World Tour Finals in Toronto. In 2017, she and Walkenhorst won the World Championship in Vienna.
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. The United States is the only country to win medals in every edition.
April Elizabeth Ross is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh Jennings, and a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics with Alix Klineman. Ross and Kessy were also the 2009 Beach Volleyball World Champions.
The Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International was a women's beach volleyball tournament held at Horse Guards Parade, London, between 9 and 14 August 2011. It was the beach volleyball test event for the 2012 Summer Olympics and was part of the London Prepares series. The tournament, run as an exhibition, was won by the Brazilian pair Maestrini and Vieira. 2,274 tonnes of sand was transported to the parade ground for the event. After the tournament, the sand went to several locations within London to fulfill a legacy promise. The stadium had a capacity of 1,500 spectators. The play was affected by the 2011 England riots.
The Asian Beach Volleyball Championships is an international beach volleyball competition held every year in Asia and Oceania contested by the double-gender beach volleyball of the members of Asian Volleyball Confederation.
Kira Katharina Walkenhorst is a retired German beach volleyball player who played as a blocker. She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball player and a younger sister Pia Walkenhorst who also plays beach volleyball.
Melissa Humana-Paredes is a Canadian beach volleyball player, who is partnered with Brandie Wilkerson. Humana-Paredes won the women's gold medal with Sarah Pavan at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Sarah Lindsey Pavan is a Canadian beach volleyball and former indoor volleyball player. She was part of the Canada women's national volleyball team at the 2010 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in Japan. With Melissa Humana-Paredes she won the women's gold medal at the 2019 Beach Volleyball World Championships.
Heather Bansley is a Canadian beach volleyball player, playing as a left-side defender. She has been named FIVB Best Defensive Player of the World Tour in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Nicole Laird is an Australian beach volleyball player. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Mariafe Artacho del Solar is an Australian beach volleyball player. She represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Artacho del Solar plays as a right-side defender. According to the Women's FIVB World Rankings, she and partner Taliqua Clancy are ranked 5th as of 21 January 2020.
The women's beach volleyball tournament at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, took place at the Shiokaze Park. The competition was held from 24 July to 6 August 2021. It was originally scheduled to take place from 25 July to 8 August 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced on 24 March 2020 that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be delayed to 2021. Because of this pandemic, the games were played behind closed doors. Twenty-four teams with 48 athletes from around the world competed for the gold medal.
The women's tournament was held from 28 June to 7 July.
Rinky Hijikata is an Australian professional tennis player. Following a successful career at the UNC, he went professional and achieved career high ATP rankings in singles of world No. 70 on 16 October 2023 and in doubles of No. 23 on 30 October 2023.
