Lausanne, Switzerland, June 14, 2020 - Seven Olympians, including two-time Summer Games medal winners American April Ross and Brazilian Sandra Pires, will celebrate birthdays this week as the FIVB crowned 47 event champions during the June 14-20 time period on the international beach volleyball circuit.
Still active and currently ranked second on the FIVB World Tour standings with Alix Klineman, Ross celebrates No. 38 Saturday. A winner of 25 FIVB titles, Ross topped the 2009 World Championship podium with Jen Kessy before the pair collected a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
Ross also claimed a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Summer Games with Kerri Walsh Jennings. Five days prior to her 32nd birthday, Ross and Walsh Jennings topped an FIVB World Tour podium in Moscow on June 15, 2014. It was the pair's fourth of 11 FIVB titles together as Ross also collected 10 gold medals with Kessy and four with Klineman.
Sandra, who turns 47 Tuesday, also captured her first of five FIVB World Tour gold medals with Ana Paula Connolly Henkel a day after her 30th birthday in 2003 at Rhodes, Greece. A winner of 20 World Tour titles with four different partners, Sandra was a regular on the international circuit for 11 seasons (1995-2005) and mentored Agatha Bednarczuk in her last full campaign.
After teaming with Jackie Silva (1995-1997) to win 12 FIVB World Tour titles, including the gold medals at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics and 1997 Los Angeles World Championships, Sandra partnered with Adriana Samuels for three seasons (1998-2000) to capture two international titles and a third-place finish at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games.
Sandra Pires (left) and Jackie Silva at the FIVB Olympic House in Rio
Rebekka Kadijk, who competed in three Olympics (2000, 2004 and 2008) for the Netherlands, also turns 41 Tuesday as she competed 13 full seasons on the FIVB World Tour (1997-2008, 2011). Kadijk and Marrit Leenstra captured their country’s first ever gold medal by a women's or men's team on the international circuit at an August 2003 event in Lianyungang, China.
Rebekka Kadijk of the Netherlands
Other Olympians celebrating birthday’s this week are German Kay Matysik (40) and Italian Alex Ranghieri (33) on Thursday, American Sean Rosenthal (40) on Friday and Cuban Sergio Gonzalez (30) on Saturday.
Rosenthal placed fifth at both the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics with Jake Gibb as the pair captured four World Tour gold medals. Two days before Rosenthal’s 32nd birthday, he and Gibb claimed their third FIVB title in Rome on June 17, 2012.
Matysik, who is now coaching, placed ninth at the London 2012 Olympics with Jonathan Erdmann before the pair claimed the bronze medal at the 2013 Stare Jablonki World Championships. Ranghieri and Gonzalez competed in the Rio 2016 Summer Games with the Italian placing ninth with Adrian Carambula and the Cuban fifth with Nivaldo Diaz.
Ranghieri also captured three FIVB World Tour gold medals, including a 2015 title (Lucerne, Switzerland) with Marco Caminati and 2015 (Antalya, Turkey) and 2016 (Doha, Qatar) crowns with Carambula. Gonzalez and Diaz topped an FIVB podium in 2017 at Langkawi, Malaysia.
Alex Ranghieri of Italy
In 2014 on June 15 in Myslowice, Poland, Maciej Kosiak and Maciej Rudol delighted the home crowd by winning the FIVB Under-23 World Championship title while Australians Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird captured the women’s gold medal.
Gold medal winners Mariafe Artacho (left) and Nicole Laird (right) with Maciej Rudol and Maciej Kosiak
A total of 12 countries captured FIVB beach volleyball gold medals during the June 14-20 timeframe, including 20 by Brazilian pairs (11 men and nine women). There were 43 World Tour gold medals awarded during this seven-day stretch with two Satellite/Challenger events held.
June 14
• In 2008, Misty May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the 32nd of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2010, Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu of China won the Moscow Grand Slam. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2015, Evandro Goncalves and Pedro Solberg of Brazil won the Stavanger Major. It was the first of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Linyin Xu (left) and Penggen Wu of China
June 15
• In 2003, Ana Paula and Sandra won the Rhodes Open. It was the first of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2008, Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the 32nd of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2014, Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia won the Moscow Grand Slam. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2014, Ross and Walsh Jennings won the Moscow Grand Slam. It was the fourth win of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2019, Artacho and Taliqua Clancy won the Warsaw Open. It was the fifth of six FIVB World Tour titles for the team.
Moscow 2014 podium with Americans, Brazilians, Dutch, Polish and Russian players
June 16
• In 2002, Rogerio 'Para' Ferreira and Harley Marques of Brazil won the Berlin Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2007, Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil won the Espinho Open. It was 16th of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2013, Bruno Schmidt and Solberg won The Hague Grand Slam. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2013, Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima of Brazil won The Hague Grand Slam. It was the second of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Teresa Mersmann and Cinja Tillmann of Germany won the Baden Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2019, Evandro and Bruno won the Warsaw Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2019, Florian Gosselin and Jeremy Silvestre of France won the Ios Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2019, Dimitra Manavi and Konstantina Tsopoulou of Greece won the Ios Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
2019 Ios podium with Czechs, English, French, Greek, Romania and Russian players
June 17
• In 2001, Barbra Fontana and Elaine Youngs of the United States won the Calgari Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2001, Tande Ramos and Emanuel won the Tenerife Open. It was the first of six FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2007, Emanuel and Ricardo won the Espinho Open. It was the 24th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2012, Gibb and Rosenthal won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the third of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2012, Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Josemari Alves and Liliane Maestrini of Brazil won the Tangshan Open. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst of Austria won the Baden Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Rome 2012 podium with Americans, Brazilians, Germans and Swiss players
June 18
• In 2000, Jose Loiola and Emanuel won the Toronto Open. It was the 12th of 15 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2000, Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil won the Toronto Open. It was the 17th of 31 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2005, Juliana and Larissa won the Gstaad Open. It was the fourth of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2006, Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann of Germany won the Espinho Open. It was the first of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2016, Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany won the Olsztyn Grand Slam. It was the sixth of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2017, Juliana and Carolina Horta won the Monaco Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2017, Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Nikita Liamin of Russia won The Hague Open. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2017, Maria Antonelli and Carolina Salgado of Brazil won The Hague Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2017, Betsi Flint and Kelley Larsen of the United States won the Tangshan Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
2017 Tangshan Open podium with American, Chinese and Lithuanian players
June 19
• In 2004, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Gstaad Open. It was the 14th of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2005, Emanuel and Ricardo won the Gstaad Open. It was the 13th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2005, Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs of Latvia won the Turku Satellite. It was the first of two FIVB wins for the team.
• In 2011, Alison Cerutti and Emanuel won the 2011 FIVB World Championships in Rome. It was the third of seven FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2011, Juliana and Larissa won the 2011 FIVB World Championships in Rome. It was the 39th of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2011, Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany won the Seoul Challenger. It was the first and two FIVB wins for the team.
• In 2016, Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia won the Olsztyn Grand Slam. It was the eighth of 13 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Karla Borger (left) and Britta Buthe of Germany
June 20
• In 1999, Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno won the Toronto Open. It was the seventh of seven FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 1999, Ze Marco de Melo and Ricardo won the Toronto Open. It was the third of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2004, Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel of Switzerland won the Gstaad Open. It was the first of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2015, Gibb and Casey Patterson won the St. Petersburg Grand Slam. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Stefan Kobel (left) and Patrick Heuscher of Switzerland