Lausanne, Switzerland, October 18, 2020 - Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos are regarded by many as the most successful men’s team in beach volleyball history as the legendary Brazilian tandem’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship title in 2003 highlights this week in history.
Played a week after the Women’s World Championship finale on Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Emanuel and Ricardo posted a two-set final victory over Americans Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger on October 19 to capture the gold medal. A month earlier on USA sand in southern California, Holdren and Metzger had defeated Emanuel and Ricardo in a Carson pool play match.
One of the eight Emanuel and Ricardo wins in the mid-October 2003 event on Copacabana also featured a two-set elimination victory over Spaniards Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera. Over 11 months later in Athens, Emanuel and Ricardo secured the Olympic gold medal by defeating Bosma and Herrera in the finale.
Emanuel Rego (left) of Brazil with Spanish rival Javier Bosma at a 2008 event in Barcelona.
The Rio gold medal was the second of three FIVB titles for Emanuel during the October 18-24 time period on the World Tour. In 1996 on October 20, Emanuel teamed with Ze Marco de Melo to top an FIVB podium in Puerto Rico. Nine years later in 2005 in Salvador, Brazil, Emanuel and Ricardo won a World Tour gold medal on October 23.
Beach volleyball Olympians Fredrik Petersson of Sweden and Maria Tsiartsiani of Greece celebrate birthdays this week. Petersson, who turns 51 on Monday, competed in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games where the pair placed 17th after losing to eventual bronze medal winners John Child and Mark Heese of Canada.
Tsiartsiani, who is married to German Olympian Christoph Dieckmann, turns 40 on Wednesday. A two-time Olympian, Tsiartsiani placed ninth at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games with Efthalia Koutroumanidou and 17th at the London 2012 event with Vasiliki Arvaniti.
Maria Tsiartsiani from Greece at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Here are the gold medal winners on the FIVB World Tour during the October 18-24 time frame.
October 19
•In 2003, Emanuel and Ricardo won the FIVB World Championships at Rio de Janeiro. It was the fifth of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2018, Alexandr Dyachenko and Alexey Sidorenko of Kazakhstan won the Bandar Anzali Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
Congratulations for Alexey Sidorenko (left) and Alexandr Dyachenko of Kazakhstan.
October 20
•In 1996, Ze Marco and Emanuel won the Puerto Rico Open. It was the 10th of 15 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Ze Marco de Melo of Brazil.
October 21
•In 2018, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway won the Las Vegas Open. It was the fourth of 10 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
•In 2018, Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada won the Las Vegas Open. It was the second of three FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Las Vegas winners Brandie Wilkerson (left) and Heather Bansley of Canada.
October 22
•In 2005, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States won the Salvador Open. It was the 20th of 40 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Kerri Walsh Jennings (left) and Misty May-Treanor posing at the London 2012 Olympic Games in their last FIVB event together.
October 23
•In 2005, Emanuel and Ricardo won the Salvador Open. It was the 17th of 33 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
October 24
•In 2015, Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic won the Antalya Open. It was the first of four FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Marketa Slukova (left) and Barbora Hermannova of the Czech Republic with their gold medals.