Lausanne, Switzerland, May 10, 2020 - Three-time American Olympian Holly McPeak joins five other Summer Games participants in celebrating birthdays this week as the FIVB awarded 18 gold medals during the May 10-16 period, including 16 on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and two for age-category World Championship winners.
McPeak, who celebrates her 51st birthday on Friday, placed fifth at the Atlanta 1996 (with Nancy Reno) and Sydney 2000 (with Misty May-Treanor) Olympic Games before claiming the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Summer Games with Elaine Youngs after defeating Australians Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson in the third-place match.
A second-place finisher in the 1997 FIVB World Championships in Los Angeles with Lisa Arce, McPeak claimed 47 World Tour podium placements with six different partners with 19 gold medals. Reaching a quarterfinal in 69 of her 97 FIVB appearances, McPeak played in 54 final fours during her 13-season international career.
In her first full-season on the FIVB World Tour in 1995, McPeak and Reno won six gold medals and placed on the podium eight times in nine appearances. The pair won six-straight titles in 1995 and amassed a 28-match winning streak that was broken by the 35-victory string by Brazilians Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva.
Other Olympians celebrating birthdays this week are Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek (33 on Monday) and Bartosz Losiak (28 on Thursday), Norway’s Vegard Hoidalen (49 on Sunday), Japan’s Kazuyuki Takao (53 on Tuesday) and Germany’s Eric Koreng (39 on Saturday).
A two-time Olympian, Hoidalen and Jorre Kjemperud played in more FIVB events than any other men’s team in recorded history with 135 appearances as the pair captured a 1998 World Tour gold medal in Berlin. A year earlier in Rome, Hoidalen and Kjemperud defeated compatriots Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide to win the European Championships.
The 135th FIVB Beach Volleyball event for Norwegians Jorre Kjemperud (second from the left) and Vegard Hoidalen (second from the right) was refereed by Pietro Sacco (left) and Patricia Salvatore.
Fijalek and Losiak are still active on the FIVB World Tour as both are in a position to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Fijalek, who competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic with Mariusz Prudel, has won two World Tour gold medals with 17 podium placements and 24 final fours in 120 appearances. Fijalek and Michal Bryl captured the gold medal at March’s FIVB event in Doha, Qatar.
Losiak, the FIVB’s best setter in 2017, has teamed with Piotr Kantor in 97 of his 99 FIVB appearances. The pair has collected five gold medals, including two on the World Tour (2016 Rio and 2018 Warsaw) and three youth World Championships (2010, 2012 and 2013).
Bartosz Losiak (right) at the 2019 FIVB World Championships with Polish partner Piotr Kantor
Takao, who placed 17th at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics with Shoji Setoyama, captured Japan’s first-ever FIVB beach volleyball medal when he and Koichiro Kanno placed third at a 1989 event in Enoshima, Japan.
The FIVB’s best server for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Koreng’s career spanned 12 seasons as he captured a 2010 gold medal with David Klemperer in Stavanger, Norway where the German pair upset top-seeded Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers 2-1 (21-16, 13-21, 15-13) in the 59-minute finale. Koreng competed in 84 World Tour events with eight medals, 13 final four finishes and 25 quarterfinal appearances.
Eric Koreng (left) being interviewed by Patricia de Zoete
Dutch Olympians Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil captured two gold medals during the May 10-16 time frame, including their country’s first-ever men’s World Tour title on May 12, 2007 in Manama, Bahrain by defeating Brazilians Pedro Cunha/Franco Neto 2-1 (17-21, 21-19, 15-13) in the 68-minute finale.
Brazilians captured both the gold medals at the 2016 Under-21 World Championships in Switzerland as Arthur Mariano/George Wanderley and Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa/Ana Patricia Silva topped the podiums in Lucerne. Here is a complete list of victorious FIVB beach volleyball teams during the May 10-16 period.
Interviews for Arthur Mariano (left) and George Wanderley
May 10
• In 2014, Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia won the Puerto Vallarta Open in the fourth of 13 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
May 11
• In 2008, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal of the United States won the Prague Open. It was the second of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2014, Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas of Brazil won the Puerto Vallarta Open. It was the first of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
May 12
• In 1996, Paulao Moreira and Paulo Emilio Silva of Brazil won the Joao Pessoa Open. It was the fourth of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2007, Nummerdor and Schuil won the Bahrain Open. It was the first win of nine FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2012, Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil won the Beijing Grand Slam. It was the 43rd of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Suzuka Hashimoto and Sayaka Mizoe of Japan won the Tuan Chau Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2019, Ksenia Dabizha and Daria Rudykh of Russia won the FIVB Tuan Chau Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
First Dutch men's gold for Richard Schuil (left) and Reinder Nummerdor in Bahrain
May 13
• In 2012, Nummerdor and Schuil won the Beijing Grand Slam. It was the eighth of nine FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Trevor Crabb and John Mayer of the United States won the Lucerne Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy of Australia won the Lucerne Open. It was the third of six FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Yusuke "Gottsu" Ishijima and Takumi Takahashi of Japan won the Bangkok Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2018, Aurora Davis and Bree Scarbrough of the United States won the FIVB Bangkok Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
2018 men's and women's podium in Lucerne
May 14
• In 2006, Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil won the Modena Open. It was the eighth of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2016, Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany won the FIVB Antalya Open. It was the fourth of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team
May 15
• In 2016, Samoilovs and Smedins won the Antalya Open. It was the seventh of 13 FIVB World tour wins for the team.
May 16
• In 2016, Arthur Mariano and George Wanderley of Brazil won the FIVB Under 21 World Championships at Lucerne, Switzerland. It was the second of two age-category World Championship wins for the team.
• In 2016, Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva of Brazil won the FIVB Under 21 World Championships at Lucerne, Switzerland. It was the second of three age-categroy World Championship wins for the team.
Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa (left) and Ana Patricia Silva of Brazil