International Olympic Committee : News

Brink and Reckermann make history - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

8/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann won by two sets to one, 23-21 16-21 16-14, but it took them five match points to settle the contest.

It meant there was no fairytale for Brazil's Emanuel Rego - the 39-year-old who won gold at Athens 2004 and bronze at Beijing 2008 and was competing in his fifth Olympic Games - and Alison Cerutti.

Latvia's Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins took bronze - their country's first medal of London 2012 - in a surprise 2-1 victory over Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuilof the Netherlands.

Reckermann said afterwards: 'It's unbelievable - they have been the best team for the last few years and Emanuel is a living legend, but we knew we had a chance.'

Rego said: 'What a final...it was intense and fantastic in front of 15,000 people. It was a good battle and the Germans did really well, and I think if we had won the first set it would have gone our way.'

Plavins, meanwhile, was delighted to win bronze, and said: 'It was our dream to win a medal in the Olympics and now we have done it and can't really believe we did it.

'No-one believed before we came here that we were going to win a medal.'

Latvia and Germany lead last-four charge - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

8/6/2012 12:00:00 AM

Latvia's Martins Plavins and Janis Smedins scored arguably the result of the day as they ended the involvement of the USA in the men's competition with a three-set win over Jacob Gibb and Sean Rosenthal.

On a rainy night in London, the Europeans pulled off a major upset as they reached the semi-finals at the expense of the team boasting the best record on beach volleyball's World Tour this year.

After being edged out in a tight opening set, Latvia responded superbly, taking the second before carrying the momentum into the decider on their way to a 19-21 21-18 15-11 win.

The defeat sees Gibb and Rosenthal follow compatriots Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser through the exit door after the reigning champions were dumped out by Italy in the last 16.

'It's unbelievable, I have no words to say,' said Plavins of Latvia. 'We are in the semi-finals and it is just unbelievable. We will try to get one win more but it will be very, very, very hard.'

They will now face gold medal favourites Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego of Brazil in the last four, after the South Americans came through a major test of their title credentials to beat Poland in three sets.

The Polish pair of Grzegorz Fijalek and Mariusz Prudel came agonisingly close to pulling off a major upset and in a dramatic final set were just a point away from their first-ever win over the Brazilian duo.

The Poles brought up match point at 14-13 in the decider but they could not deliver the decisive blow, and Alison and Emanuel held on to complete a 21-17 16-21 17-15 victory.

Later in the evening, German duo Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann stunned Brazil in the quarter-finals to end Ricardo Santos' bid for a fourth Olympic Games medal.

Santos arrived in London eyeing more success on the biggest stage after taking silver at Sydney 2000, gold at Athens 2004 and bronze in Beijing four years ago, but the 37-year-old's fire was extinguished as he and team-mate Pedro Cunha fell to defeat.

Germany, who came through the preliminary phase unbeaten, came out firing with Reckermann in particular a threat at the net.

The Europeans quickly built up an advantage and when Brink's brilliant one-handed dig and subsequent spike made it 13-6, they never looked in danger of losing the opener.

They won it 21-15 before Brink played his part again in the second to claim it 21-19.

In the late-night game, the Netherlands' Reinder Nummerdor and Rich Schuil completed the semi-final line-up with a straight-sets victory over Italy.

The all-European encounter came down to a masterclass in all aspects of the game by the Dutch, with Schuil dominant on both defence and attack at the net and Nummerdor superb in the back court as the pair eased to a 21-16 21-18 win.

Favourites through in women's draw - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

8/4/2012 12:00:00 AM

Reigning world champions Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva of Brazil eased into the semi-finals after victory a 2-0 against Germany.

The South Americans looked at their very best as they romped to the first set with 11 points to spare, but they blew a big lead in the second before just holding on for a 21-10 21-19 win in 41 minutes.

Next up for the Brazilians, who have yet to drop a set at Horse Guards, is a semi-final against Jennifer Kessy and April Ross of the United States on Tuesday.

The USA team claimed a battling win over the Czech Republic with a 25-23 21-18 victory against Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova. That brought the prospect of an all-American final a step closer, with the nation's second pair - Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh - sending out the strongest signal yet that a third Olympic Games gold medal is within their grasp. They completed a straight-sets dismissal of Italy's Marta Menegatti and Greta Cicolari to seal their place in the last four.

They will now face China's Zhang Xi and Xue Chen, who became the first team to book their place in the semis with a 21-18 21-11 win over Austria. The Chinese pair have recovered well since losing their opening game of the tournament last weekend and looked somewhere close to their best as they outclassed sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger.

Afterwards, Zhang was clear about their next target. She said: 'My goal, the one I set at the start, is for us to reach the final.'

Italy and Brazil remain unbeaten - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

8/2/2012 12:00:00 AM

European champions Italy looked well on course for a routine win when they raced to victory in the opening set, but the pair struggled in the second as they spurned two match points to allow the Canadians to level the match.

But order was restored in the decider as Italy pulled away to a 21-12 23-25 15-10 victory in 58 minutes.

The win means Italy finish as winners of Pool F after three straight wins.

Brazilian duo Talita Rocha and Maria Antonelli also secured top spot in Pool E and their place in the last 16 with a comfortable victory over Australia.

The Netherlands' Marleen van Iersel and Sanne Keizer were too strong for Argentina, winning in straight sets.

Germany's Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig booked their place in the last 16 with a straightforward victory over the Netherlands' Madelein Meppelink and Sophie van Gestel, who later made it through the Lucky Loser play-offs.

Great Britain duo Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney snatched a Lucky Loser place after slipping to defeat against Russia - but that is as far as they could go in the tournament after coming unstuck against Austria.

USA duo Jennifer Kessy and April Ross ensured top spot in Pool D with victory over Spain but both sides progressed to the round of 16.

In the men's competition, Brazilian duo Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti wrapped up top spot in Pool A with a straight-sets win over Italy.

Italy's second loss in three games meant they had to play a Lucky Loser play-off against Canada, and they prevailed in that contest to make it through to the last 16.

Reigning Olympic champions Todd Rogers and Philip Dalhausser of the USA made it three straight wins against the Czech Republic to top Pool B and ease through to the last 16.

Premysl Kubala and Petr Benes were given another chance to progess in the Lucky Loser game, but Germany edged them out to take their place in the next stage of the competition.

Latvia and the Netherlands both progressed after the latter won their contest, with Spain edging out Japan.

Switzerland overcame Austria in straight sets to book their place in the last 16.

Brazil defeat GB in tight match - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

7/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

Britain's Steve Grotowski and John Garcia-Thompson suffered a second straight defeat but not before putting on a valiant performance.

The pairing of Ricardo Santos and Pedro Cunha simply had too much power and experience for the British duo in their Pool F match.

The customary boisterous crowd at the 15,000-seater arena inevitably did their bit to help the British players, but the Brazilians nevertheless wrapped up a 21-17 21-12 win that sees them through to the knockout stage.

Earlier in the day, Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany moved into the knockout stage after coming from a set down to defeat China at Horse Guards Parade.

Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins also powered into the knockout phase with a straight-sets dismissal of South Africa while there were also wins for Norway, Poland and Switzerland.

In the women's, the highlight of the day saw defending two-time Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh maintain their stunning record at the Games with a straight sets win over the Czech Republic.

May-Treanor, celebrating her 35th birthday, bossed the opening set with a series of winning attacks at the net to set the United States duo on course for a win that takes them into the knockout stage.

Elsewhere, China beat Switzerland 2-1 and Brazil beat Germany 2-0 in the other standout results.

Walsh and May-Treanor hit the heights - London 2012 - Beach Volleyball

7/28/2012 12:00:00 AM

The duo, champions at Athens in 2004 and Beijing 2008, were made to work all they way for the win 21-18 21-19 against the Australian duo of 2000 gold medal winner Natalie Cook and Tamsin Hinchley.

After the reigning champions edged a close first set, the second proved even more enthralling, with May-Treanor and Walsh trailing 13-9 at one stage.

A run of four straight points brought them back level, before the game ebbed and flowed the rest of the way.

Eventually, the USA pair came through on their first match-point chance, winning a brilliant rally which stood as a fitting conclusion to an exciting opening day.

The day began with an upset in the very first match as second seeds Xue Chen and Zhang Xi slipped to defeat against Russia in Pool B.

Xue and Zhang, bronze medallists in Beijing four years ago, are among the favourites for gold this time but made a poor start to their Olympic challenge as they fell to a 18-21 21-14 16-14 loss to Anastasia Vasina and Anna Vozakova.

China never looked at their best throughout the contest, and only just got across the line in a 20-minute opening set that could have gone either way.

The 21st-ranked Russians responded well in the next, taking the set comfortably, before the third - deciding sets are first to 15, rather than 21 - went to the wire.

China looked to be in charge when they gained two match points at 14-12, but some great defensive play saw the Russians pull back level, before they forced match point for themselves at 15-14, which was converted when Vasina's spike cannoned out of bounds off the helpless Zhang.

Six-time world champions Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva of Brazil demolished Natacha Rigobert and Elodie Li Yuk Lo of Mauritius 21-5 21-10 in Pool A, while the Czech Republic's Marketa Slukova and Kristyna Kolocova rallied to beat Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger 10-21 21-13 15-13 in Pool C.

Germany's Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler posted a straight-sets 21-16 21-18 win over the Czech Republic's Lenka Hajeckova and Hana Klapalova in Pool A, while in the penultimate women's match of the day Switzerland's Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr beat Vasiliki Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani 21-13 21-19.

In the men's tournament, heavily fancied Brazilians Ricardo Santos and Pedro Cunha started their campaign with a straight-sets win over Norway's Tarjei Skarlund and Martin Spinnangr in Pool F.

Ricardo is one of the great names of the sport and is bidding for a fourth Olympic Games medal - following on from his silver at Sydney 2000, gold at Athens 2004 and bronze in Beijing - and he and his team-mate looked in good form as they ran out 21-14 21-18 winners.

Also in Pool F, Great Britain duo Steve Grotowski and John Garcia-Thompson went down to a 21-19 21-13 defeat to Joshua Binstock and Martin Reader of Canada.

Earlier the men's tournament kicked off with an impressive win for Latvia's Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Ruslans Sorokins in Pool D, while in Pool C, Germany's Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann defeated Russia's Konstantin Semenov and Serguei Prokopiev 21-19 21-17.

Beach Volleyball thrills central London

8/16/2011 10:55:00 AM

London's Horse Guards Parade was transformed into a world-class beach volleyball venue last week as it hosted the FIVB Beach Volleyball International in preparation for next year's Olympic Games.

The historic venue – which is located in central London, close to Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and Westminster Abbey – attracted a huge level of interest as it welcomed 24 leading teams from around the world from 9-14 August, giving the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test one of its key temporary venues for next year's Games.

Among them also women beach volleyballers Linline Matauatu and Elwin Miller of Vanuatu, a group of islands some 1,700 kilometres off the coast of northern Australia, who finished in the top ten of the tournament’s final ranking. Until just a few years ago, making it to the Games would have been a mere dream for these two young mothers, but having received an Olympic Solidarity team grant to pay for equipment, travel and a professional coach, making it to the Games became a real possibility. Watch here how they are training and preparing for London 2012.

The event proved to be a great success, attracting praise from fans and athletes alike, with Brazilian pair Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira triumphing over Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy in the final. Vieira was particularly impressed with the venue and the host city in general.

“Everything was really nice,” she said. “Thank you to everyone who helped. I am thankful for the whole test of the Olympic event. It was pretty good, perfect. I have never been here before and I love London, love everyone and everything.”

The FIVB Beach Volleyball International forms part of the London Prepares series, which will see the British capital's Olympic venues play host to several world-class sporting events in the build-up to London 2012. The series is an integral part of LOCOG's preparations for the Games, enabling it to test the sporting field of play at each venue, as well as the results, timing and scoring systems.

The events also allow LOCOG to see how its teams work together and how people move around the venues, and David Luckes, Head of Sport Competition at LOCOG, was pleased with how the beach volleyball event went.

“The atmosphere was fantastic throughout the whole week,” he said. “Athletes, spectators and volunteers all talked about the amazing setting and the great time they all had. We successfully tested the field of play (including the sand), results systems, lighting and sport presentation. Bringing beach volleyball in this format to London is a first for the capital, the fact that it was in this iconic venue added to the appeal.”

Vicente Araujo, Technical Delegate and FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission secretary, added: “The media and spectator interest has been impressive and of course the spectacular setting of Horse Guards Parade has been inspirational, while the legacy of the sand, which will be used to create new beach volleyball courts, is also very important to us. The response of the athletes concerning the event has been very encouraging and thanks to the great crowd support, they have had a glimpse of what it will be like next year. Of course there are some areas where we will continue to liaise and fine tune with LOCOG but now after this extremely successful week we can focus on London 2012 with great confidence.”

Golden Opportunity: Juliana Felisberta Silva, Beach Volleyball

10/20/2010 9:47:00 AM

Olympic Review continues its countdown to the 2012 Games with exclusive interviews with stars of three more of the 26 sports on the programme, who are targeting gold in London. The Brazilian Juliana Felisberta Silva, FIBV World Tour Beach Volleyball champion for four of the past five seasons, missed the 2008 Beijing games because of injury – London 2012 cannot come soon enough for her.

How disappointing was it to miss the 2008 Games through injury?
It was like a bad dream where you never wake up. I worked for four years to compete in the Olympic Games, and just before the start it was taken away from me. I had some terrible days after that but had some great support, especially from my partner [Larissa França] and my family. They all believed I would get back to my best, more than I did.

How did you recover from that setback?
Every day I woke up and told myself I had to do something towards getting better. After one year I was back playing again with the same partner and won the World Tour. I think it was the energy created by me believing in myself and people believing in me.

What do the Games mean to you?
It’s different because of the expectation. Footballers have their World Cup, we have the Olympic Games and I really, really want to be there. I will try for the gold medal but I want to win any medal for my country and for me, so that when I have a baby I can say, ‘Your mother went there and she worked really hard for it’.

Have you ever been to London?
I’ve only been on vacation but it seems a really interesting country – the Queen, the culture, and the people are really polite. I really hope to go there for the Olympic Games.

What is your training regime?
I train six hours per day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon or evening. I usually wake around 7am, go to the gym or the beach for physical training, back home to sleep, then train again. Three times a week I have physio and massage.

What particular training do you have to do for beach volleyball?
The most stress is on the legs so that’s where you have to work hardest. You have to learn how to jump and how to move in the sand before working on your technique.

How did you get into beach volleyball?
In my school we had a choice: PE or play a sport. Well I hated PE so I chose indoor volleyball.

What is it about the sport that you like?
It’s so much more relaxed than most other sports. You travel a lot, you meet a lot of people, it’s given me the chance to experience a lot of different cultures. I always tell my friends, for me beach volleyball is the best university I could imagine.

Who are your role models?
There are three: in beach volleyball it’s Sandra Pires of Brazil, who won gold and bronze at the Olympic Games; the second is Michael Jordan, who once wrote, “I’m not a good player, I just train hard”. And the third is Ayrton Senna from Brazil, because he never quit.

What music do you listen to, and do you do any social networking?
I use Facebook to keep in touch with my friends, and I listen to reggae, Bob Marley especially, and sometimes to gospel music.

Singapore 2010 adopts new sport formats

8/12/2010 3:39:00 PM

The first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore will feature all 26 sports currently on the programme of the London 2012 Olympic Games. What will differ in some cases are the disciplines and format, such as 3 on 3 street basketball, a mixed gender relay in the swimming pool, a medley relay on the track or events in which athletes from different National Olympic Committees compete on the same team. Read on to see what your favourite sports will consist of in Singapore...

Aquatics (diving and swimming)

Aquatics comprises diving and swimming. There will be two diving events for both men and women, 3m springboard and 10m platform. Swimming events include freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and medley, both individual and relay. As a first, a mixed gender event for 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m medley relay is included.

Archery

Archery will feature individual men, women and mixed team competitions. The distance that athletes will be shooting is 70m.

Athletics

Athletics comprises a total 36 events for both men and women. The track events will include 1000m and 3000m races as well as a 2000m steeplechase and a medley relay. There will be eight field events (four jumps and four throws).

Badminton

Badminton will feature men’s and women’s singles events in Singapore.

Basketball

Basketball 3 on 3 will be played at the YOG. There will be two teams of three players on court at any one time. This fast-paced game is played on a half court, with one basketball hoop. It includes two periods of five minutes each. The winner is the first team to score 33 points, or the team that is leading the game at the end of the fifteen minutes of play.

Boxing

Boxing will feature men’s events. There will be 11 different weight categories, ranging from 48kg to the 91kg+ division.

Canoe-Kayak

Canoe-Kayak will feature four events for men and two for women. Both will race
in head-to-head sprints and obstacle slaloms in the kayak category. The men will also compete in the same events in canoes.

Cycling

The Cycling competition will involve teams. Each team consists of three men and one woman. The three men are required to compete in one discipline each (BMX, MTB and Time Trial), while the woman has to compete in all three disciplines. All male riders also have to compete in the Road Race.

Equestrian

In Equestrian, only the jumping events will take place (team and individual). The Organising Committee will provide the horses, which will be assigned to riders by draw. For the team event, there will be six teams representing each FEI regional zone.

Fencing

Fencing will feature individual competitions in the foil, epée and sabre for men and women, and a mixed team competition.

Football

Football will consist of a six-team competition, representing all continents, for both men and women.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is split into artistic and rhythmic, as in the Olympic Games. The artistic competition will feature eight individual men’s events and six individual women’s events. The rhythmic competition consists of two events – individual and team – for women.

Handball

Handball is a six-team tournament, representing all continents, for men and for women.

Hockey

Hockey is the same as football and handball – a six-team competition, representing all continents for both men and women.

Judo

There are a total of eight weight categories for both men and women in the Judo competition. There is also a mixed team event.

Modern Pentathlon

The Modern Pentathlon competition consists of four of the five modern pentathlon disciplines: fencing, swimming, running and shooting. The fifth discipline, riding, will not be competed at Singapore 2010. The run-shoot format will be competed. In the Combined event, laser shooting is being used for the first time.

Rowing

Both the men and women will compete in two events in Rowing – single sculls and pairs.

Sailing

The Sailing competition comprises four events, with men and women sailing in either the one person dinghy or the windsurfing.

Shooting

In Shooting, the men and women will compete in both air rifle and air pistol.

Table Tennis

Table tennis will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles and a mixed team competition.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo will see athletes competing in five weight categories per gender.

Tennis

There will be both men’s singles and doubles and women’s singles and doubles in the Tennis tournament.

Triathlon

The Triathlon competition format for individual competitions includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle ride and a 5km run. The 4 x mixed team relay competition includes a 250m swim in open water, a 7km cycle ride and a 1.7km run.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a six-team men’s and women’s competition.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting sees men competing in six weight categories, while women will compete in five weight categories. The combined results of the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk will produce the champion of each weight category.

Wrestling

The Wrestling competition will see men compete in Greco-Roman (five weight categories) and freestyle (five weight categories) and women in freestyle (four weight categories).