Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the court. Each team also works in unison to prevent the opposing team from grounding the ball on their side of the court.
Andrea Giani is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player who serves as head coach for the France national team and the Polish PlusLiga team, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle.
Andrea Zorzi is an Italian former volleyball player, won two World Championships with the Italy men's national volleyball team. A 201 cm athlete, Zorzi was an effective spiker who played as an opposite hitter. He was popularly known as "Zorro". In 1991, he was declared World's Best Player by the FIVB. In 2024, Zorzi was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.
The Poland men's national volleyball team represents Poland in international volleyball competition. The team is directed by the Polish Volleyball Federation, the governing body for volleyball in Poland, which represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches.
Julius Brink is a German beach volleyball player who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2006 European Beach Volleyball Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, partnering with Christoph Dieckmann. He took part at the Olympic Games in 2008.
Julio Velasco is an Argentine former professional volleyball player and coach. He obtained Italian citizenship in 1992. Velasco was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2005. He is the head coach of the Italy women's national volleyball team, which he led to the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Germany men's national volleyball team represents Germany in international volleyball competitions. It is governed by the German Volleyball Association. Germany won the gold medal at the 1970 World Championship as East Germany and the bronze medal at the 2014 World Championship.
The Estonia men's national volleyball team is controlled by the Estonian Volleyball Federation and represents Estonia in international volleyball competitions. The team has reached the European Championships seven times.
The Croatia men's national volleyball team represents Croatia in international volleyball competitions and friendly matches. It is governed by the Croatian Volleyball Federation.
Jonas Reckermann is a German retired beach volleyball player. Together with his most recent partner Julius Brink, he won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which, along with Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst are the most successful Olympic appearances of a German beach volleyball team. They were the first European duo to win the Olympic gold medal – male or female competition. In addition to that they also were the first European team ever to win a world championship title and are currently ranked 22nd on the FIVB World Tour.
The FIVB World Grand Prix 2004 was the twelfth edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament, which is the female equivalent of the Men's Volleyball World League. The 2004 edition was played by twelve countries from July 9 to August 1, 2004, with the final round held in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Hosts Italy and the top five ranked teams after the preliminary rounds qualified for the last round.
Clayton Iona "Clay" Stanley is an American former volleyball player, who was a member of United States men's national volleyball team, a participant of the Olympic Games, Olympic Champion 2008, NORCECA Champion 2005, and multimedalist of the World League.
The Montenegro men's national volleyball team represents Montenegro in international men's volleyball competitions and friendly matches. The national volleyball team was formed in 2006, recently after independence. Montenegro has been a full member of FIVB and CEV since 2006.
Jenia Grebennikov is a French professional volleyball player of Russian descent who plays as a libero for Zenit Saint Petersburg and the France national team. Grebennikov won a gold medal in the men's tournament at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and is the 2015 European Champion.
Earvin Ngapeth is a French professional volleyball player, member of the France national volleyball team and Italian club Modena Volley, 2015 European Champion, gold medallist of the World League, French Champion (2010), Italian Champion (2016), and Olympic Champion.
The 2016 FIVB Volleyball World League was the 27th edition of the annual men's international volleyball tournament which was played by a record of 36 teams from 16 June to 17 July 2016. The Group 1 final round was held in Kraków, Poland. After being runners-up on five occasions, Serbia finally claimed their first World League after prevailing over Brazil in straight sets. The defending champions France claimed their first ever bronze medal at the World League after a fast victory in straight sets against Italy. Marko Ivović was elected the most valuable player.
Louisa-Christin Lippmann is a German volleyball player. She plays as an outside hitter or opposite and has over 100 appearances for the Germany women's national volleyball team. At club level, she currently plays for Lokomotiv Kaliningrad. Lippmann played in many international competitions and won the German league, cup and supercup with the clubs she played for. She represented Germany at the 2024 Summer Olympics partnering with former gold medallist Laura Ludwig.
The FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1962, they were held every four years. The tournament will be held biennially starting in 2025.
Christian Sandlie Sørum is a Norwegian beach volleyball player. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The 2022 FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship was the 19th staging of the FIVB Women's Volleyball World Championship, contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The Netherlands and Poland were dual hosts for this event.
