Lausanne, Switzerland, October 25, 2020 - Led by gold medal winners Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos of Brazil and Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States, 10 teams that participated in the beach volleyball competition at past Olympic Games enjoyed FIVB podium-topping successes during the last seven days in October during World Tour history.
Seven of the end of October gold medal winning teams placed on Olympic podiums. Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh were the first when the American pair captured the Fortaleza Open title on October 27 nearly three months after capturing the silver medal at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games.
Atlanta 1996 Olympic medal winners (left to right) are Mike Dodd, Karch Kiraly, Kent Steffes and Mike Whitmarsh.
Walsh Jennings is joined by compatriot April Ross in appearing on the end of October list with two different partners. Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor topped the 2006 Acapulco Open podium on October 29. Two years earlier Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor won their first Olympic gold in Athens followed by Summer Games success in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
Nearly seven years after the Acapulco win, Walsh Jennings teamed with Ross to capture 2013 Chinese gold in Xiamen on October 27. It was the second of 11 World Tour gold medals for Walsh Jennings and Ross, who placed third at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Ross’ second victory at an end of October event was in 2012 when she and her London Olympic silver medal partner Jen Kessy captured a World Tour title in Thailand by winning the Bang Saen Open on October 28. It was the 10th and final FIVB World Tour win for the Kessy/Ross partnership.
Jen Kessy (left) and April Ross with the Thailand fans after winning gold in Bangsaen.
Nearly a year before Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor's success in Acapulco, Emanuel and Ricardo won their 18th of 33 FIVB World Tour gold medals in the Mexico resort. Fourteen months earlier, the legendary Brazil pair was topping the Athens Olympic podium and nearly three years later, Emanuel and Ricardo were winning the bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.
Other Olympic medal winners capturing FIVB World Tour titles during the last seven days in October were Americans Jennifer Kessy/Ross (London 2012 Olympic silver), Brazilians Juliana Felisberta/Larissa Franca (London 2012 Olympic bronze) and Xue Chen/Zhang Xi of China (Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze).
Xue Chen (left) and Zhang Xi of China after their 2010 gold-medal victory on October 31 in Sanya, China.
The teams of Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri of Italy (Rio 2016 Olympics), Reinder Nummerdor/Richard Schuil of the Netherlands (2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics) and Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal of the United States (2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics) also captured FIVB World Tour gold medals during the last seven days in October.
Three other Olympians - Brazil’s Alison Cerutti (London 2012 and Rio 2016), Canada’s Heather Bansley (Rio 2016) and the Netherlands' Madelein Meppelink (London 2012 and Rio 2016) also claimed FIVB World tour titles with non-Summer Games partners this week in World Tour history.
Brandie Wilkerson (left) and Heather Bansley top the 2018 Chetumal podium on October 28.
Alison topped the Rio 2016 Summer Games podium with Bruno Oscar Schmidt after netting the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics with Emanuel.
Olympians celebrating birthdays this week are Austrian Oliver Stamm (turning 55) and Canadian Barb Broen Ouellette (56) today and Jantine van der Vlist (35) of the Netherlands on Friday. Broen Ouellette placed 17th at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics with Margo Malowney while Stamm and Nikolas Berger finished ninth at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games. Van der Vlist and Sophie van Gestel placed 19th at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Sydney 2000 Olympian Oliver Stamm of Austria.
Here is a list of the FIVB beach volleyball gold medal winners during the October 25-31 time period.
October 25
•In 2015, Carambula and Ranghieri won the Antalya Open. It was the second of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
October 26
•In 2013, Alison and Vitor Felipe won the Xiamen Grand Slam. It was only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
2015 Antalya Open winners Adrian Carambula (left) and Alex Ranghieri of Italy.
October 27
•In 1996, Dodd and Whitmarsh won the Fortaleza Open. It was the third and three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2013, Ross and Walsh Jennings won the FIVB Xiamen Grand Slam. It was the second of 11 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Post-match interview in Xiamen with Peter Clayton (right) with Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings (left) and April Ross.
October 28
•In 2006, Gibb and Rosenthal won the Acapulco Open. It was the first of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2012, Kessy and Ross won the Bang Saen Open. It was the 10th and final FIVB World Tour win for the team.
•In 2018, Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson won the Chetumal Open. It was the third of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
2006 Corona Open winners Jake Gibb (left) and Sean Rosenthal of the United States.
October 29
•In 2005, Rego and Ricardo won the Acapulco Open. It was the 18th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2006, May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings won the Acapulco Open. It was the 24th of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2017, Marco Caminati and Enrico Rossi of Italy won the Aalsmeer Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
•In 2017, Meppelink and Joy Stubbe won the Aalsmeer Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
The men's and women's Aalsmeer 2017 podium placers featuring American, Dutch, German, Italian and Turkish players.
October 30
•In 2005, Juliana and Larissa won the Acapulco Open. It was the seventh of 45 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
October 31
•In 2009, Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil of the Netherlands won the Sanya Open. It was the sixth of nine FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2010, Xue and Zhang won the Sanya Open. It was the seventh of 15 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Sanya Open gold medal winners Richard Schuil (left) and Reinder Nummerdor of the Netherlands with post-match interviews.