Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players 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.
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.
The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, commonly known by the acronym FIVB, is the international governing body for all forms of volleyball. Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its current president is Ary Graça of Brazil.
Volleyball has been part of the Summer Olympics program for both men and women consistently since 1964.
The Asian Volleyball Confederation, commonly known by the acronym AVC, is the continental governing body for the sports of indoor, beach, and grass volleyball in Asia and Oceania. It has 65 member associations, mostly located in the Asia-Pacific region, but excludes four transcontinental countries with territory in both Asia and Europe – Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey – along with Armenia, Cyprus, and Israel, which are members of the CEV instead.
Todd Jonathan Rogers is an American professional beach volleyball player who is an Olympic and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medalist. He and his former partner, Phil Dalhausser, were the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 AVP Tour champions.
Italy competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China. The country sent a delegation of 344 athletes to compete.
Brazil sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, in August 2008. Brazilian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1920, except the 1928 Summer Olympics. The country is represented by the Brazilian Olympic Committee. Brazil headed to the Beijing Games with its largest Olympic delegation at the time, 277 athletes, including 132 women.
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.
Xue Chen is a Chinese beach volleyball player, measuring 191 centimetres in height. Her hometown is Fuzhou, but she trains in Sanya, Hainan. She has also trained in California under coach Dane Selznick. She competed at the 2020 Olympics with X. Wang in Tokyo held in 2021.
The women's beach volleyball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 9 to August 21, at the Beach Volleyball Ground at Chaoyang Park.
The men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place at the Beach Volleyball Ground at Chaoyang Park from August 9 to August 22.
The volleyball tournaments at the 2012 Olympic Games in London were played between 28 July and 12 August.
Louise Bawden is an Australian volleyball and beach volleyball player. She represented Australia at the 2000 Summer Olympics in indoor volleyball, finishing in 9th. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in beach volleyball, but she and team-mate Becchara Palmer did not qualify from the pool stage.
The volleyball tournaments at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was played between 6 and 21 August. 24 volleyball teams and 48 beach volleyball teams, total 386 athletes, participated in the tournament. The indoor volleyball competition took place at Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Maracanã, and the beach volleyball tournament was held at Copacabana Beach, in the temporary Copacabana Stadium.
The volleyball tournaments at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were played between 24 July and 8 August 2021. 24 volleyball teams and 48 beach volleyball teams participated in the tournament. The indoor volleyball competition took place at Ariake Arena in Ariake, and the beach volleyball tournament at Shiokaze Park, in the temporary Shiokaze Park Stadium.
Beach Volleyball at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics was held from August 17 to August 27. This was the first time beach volleyball was held at the Youth Olympics with indoor volleyball appearing at the 2010 edition. The events took place at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center in Nanjing, China.
The women's tournament in volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics was the 15th edition of the event at an Olympic Games, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB, in conjunction with the IOC. It was held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 July to 8 August 2021.
The volleyball tournaments at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be played between 26 July and 11 August 2024. 24 volleyball teams and 48 beach volleyball teams will participate in the tournament. The indoor volleyball competition will take place at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, and the beach volleyball tournament at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Champ de Mars.
