Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21 - Nine beach volleyball Olympians celebrate birthdays this week (June 21-27), including gold medal winners Kerri Pottharst of Australia and Kent Steffes of the United States and Summer Games runner-up Agatha Bednarczuk of Brazil. The week also featured as many as 37 titles in FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour history.
Pottharst, who celebrates her 55th birthday Thursday, is a two-time Olympic podium placer as she teamed with Natalie Cook to claim bronze at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games followed by a golden performance on home sand at Bondi Beach in 2000 at Sydney. Pottharst also placed ninth at the Athens 2004 Olympics with Summer Lochowicz.
Almost assured of a second Olympic berth for the Tokyo Summer Games with Eduardo “Duda” Lisboa after capturing a silver medal at Rio 2016 with Barbara Seixas, Agatha celebrates No. 37 on Monday. Steffes, who turns 52 Tuesday, topped the men’s podium at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics Games with Karch Kiraly.
Kent Steffes
Other Olympians with birthdays during the June 21-27 time frame are Australians Taliqua Clancy (28 on Thursday) and Anita Spring (55 on Friday, German David Klemperer (40 on Monday), Russian Mikhail Kouchnerev (48 on Saturday), and Spaniards Sixto Jimenez (58 on Tuesday) and Elsa Baquerizo (33 on Thursday).
David Klemperer (right) celebrates with German partner Eric Koreng at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
In addition to 37 World Tour titles decided during the June 21-27 period, including gold medal performance in 2015 by Agatha and Barbara in the United States at St. Petersburg on June 21, six youth championships were decided along with three Challenge events.
A total of 11 countries captured FIVB World Tour titles during the June 21-27 time frame, including 13 by Brazilian pairs (six men and seven women) and 11 by American tandems (five men and six women). The six USA women's gold medals were claimed by Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, including their second of three World Championship titles in 2005 at Berlin on June 25.
Misty May-Treanor (left) and Kerri Walsh Jennings captured a gold medal in Paris on June 22, 2008.
Katarzyna Kociolek of the Czech Republic won two youth World Championships during the June 21-27 period with both titles in Croatia as she topped the Under-19 podium on June 26 with Karolina Baran and the Under-21 award’s platform with Jagoda Gruszczynska on June 23, 2013.
The men’s Under-19 world title in 2011 was captured by Poland’s Lukasz Kaczmarek/Maciej Kosiak on June 26 while Brazilians Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes/Allison Cittadin were the 2013 FIVB Under-21 world champions. In 2019 on June 23, the Brazilian pairs of Rafael and Renato Lima and Vitoria De Souza/Victoria Lopes captured the gold medals at the FIVB Under-21 World Championships in Udonthani City, Thailand.
Here is the line of event winners this week in FIVB beach volleyball history.
June 21
• In 1998, Martin Conde and Eduardo Martinez of Argentina won the Toronto Open. It was the third of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 1998, Sandra Pires and Adriana Samuel of Brazil won the Toronto Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2003, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Gstaad Open. It was seventh of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2010, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States won the Prague Open. It was 12th of 23 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2015, Agatha and Barbara won the St. Petersburg Grand Slam. It was the third of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Portugal vs. Argentina at the Sydney 2000 Olympics - Esteban Martinez, Joao Brenha, Martin Conde & Miguel Maia (left to right) as both teams captured gold medals during the June 21-27 time frame.
June 22
• In 2002, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Gstaad Open. It was the third of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2003, Marcio Araujo and Benjamin Insfran of Brazil won the Gstaad Open. It was the fourth of eight FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2003, Haroldas Cyvas and Marius Vasiliauskas of Lithuania won the Zagreb Challenger. It was the first and only FIVB win for the team.
• In 2003, Lenka Hajeckova and Petra Novotna of the Czech Republic won the Zagreb Challenger. It was the first and only FIVB win for the team.
• In 2008, Dalhausser and Rogers won the Paris Grand Chelem. It was the third of 23 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2008, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Paris Grand Chelem. It was the 33rd of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2014, Tri Bourne and John Hyden of the United States won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2014, Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
The 2014 Berlin podium with Americans, Brazilians, Czechs and Germans.
June 23
• In 1996, Sandra and Jackie Silva won the Hermosa Beach Open. It was the seventh of 12 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 1996, Jan Kvalheim and Bjorn Maaseide of Norway won the Hermosa Beach Open. It was the fifth of seven FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2001, Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar won the Gstaad Open. It was the 18th of 31 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2002, Mariano Baracetti and Conde won the Gstaad Open. It was the fourth of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2013, Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the second of six FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2013, Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima of Brazil won the Rome Grand Slam. It was the third of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Oscar Brandao and Luciano Ferreira of Brazil won the Manavgat Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2018, Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba of Japan won the Manavgat Open. It was the first and two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
The 2008 Manavgat podium with players from Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands and host Turkey.
June 24
• In 2001, Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong of the United States won the Gstaad Open. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2006, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Gstaad Grand Slam. It was 23rd of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2007, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Paris Grand Chelem. It was 25th of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2007, Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil won the Paris Grand Chelem. It was 25th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera of Spain won the Ostrava Open. It was the third of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Barbora Hermannova and Slukova of Czechia won the Ostrava Open. It was the second of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2018, Peng Gao and Yang Li of China won the Singapore Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• In 2018, Reika Murakami and Chiyo Suzuki of Japan won the Singapore Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
2018 men's Singapore podium with Estonians, Chinese and Indonesian players
June 25
• In 1995, Ze Marco de Melo and Emanuel won the Marseille Open. It was the first of 15 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2000, Martin and Paul Laciga of Switzerland won the Tenerife Open. It was the second of five FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2000, Shelda and Adriana won the Gstaad Open. It was the 18th of 31 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2005, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the FIVB World Championships in Berlin. It was the 16th of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2006, Emanuel and Ricardo won the Gstaad Grand Slam. It was the 20th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2017, Shuhui Wen and Xinyi Xia of China won the Nantong Open Two Star. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
Shuhui Wen and Xinyi Xia of China
June 26
• In 2004, Shelda and Adriana won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the 30th of 31 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2005, Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz Magalhaes won the FIVB World Championships in Berlin. It was the second of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Fabio Luiz Magalhaes (left) and Marcio Araujo of Brazil at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
June 27
• In 1999, Marcio Araujo and Benjamin won the Cagliari Challenger. It was the first of nine FIVB wins for the team.
• In 1999, Joao Brenha and Miguel Maia of Portugal won the Moscow Open. It was the second of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• In 2004, Markus Dieckmann and Jonas Reckermann of Germany won the Berlin Grand Slam. It was the first of two FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Markus Dieckmann (left) and Jonas Reckermann of Germany with their 2004 Berlin gold medals.