Date | 6 – 17 August 2016 | |
---|---|---|
Status | Olympic | |
Location | Arena Copacabana, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro | |
Participants | 48 from 17 countries | |
Format | Top 16 teams from round-robin pools advanced to the single-elimination tournament. |
Despite being number three in the FIVB World Tour Rankings, the American pair of Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross were favourites for gold in Rio, largely due to Walsh Jennings’s record of never having lost a match at the Olympics. She had won 21 straight games and dropped just one set in three Olympics that saw her as champion (with Misty May) in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Her new partner, Ross, was a silver medallist in London four years earlier. Strangely, the new pairing reached only the last 16 at the 2015 World Championship, losing to the Chinese pair of Wang Fan and Yue Yuan, in a tournament that saw the Brazilian women dominate all three medal places with Bárbara Seixas and Ágatha Bednarczuk taking gold. They were considered serious contenders for the gold medal on home sand in Rio, as were the other local favourites Larissa França and Talita Antunes. The two Brazilian teams were seeded one and two in Rio, with Walsh Jennings and Ross number three, and with the German world number ones Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst ranked four.
As expected, Walsh Jennings and Ross qualified for the final 16 but not until a tense final match against the Swiss girls Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Vergé-Dépré. The Americans won 21-13, 22-24, 15-12 and it was the first set they had dropped in the 2016 competition and only the second that Walsh Jennings had dropped in her Olympic career. Larissa and Talita qualified without dropping a set as did Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernández of Spain. A vastly experienced duo, the Spaniards were one of six teams (men and women) to have competed at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, but they had the distinction of being the partnership who had played together the most and their opening game in Rio was their 420th match together. Perhaps the biggest names to fail to make it through the qualifying matches were those of the Americans Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat who finished bottom of their group.
The clash of the last 16 was between Larissa and Talita and the German seventh seeds, Karla Borger and Britta Büthe and it was the home favourites who came through 21-17, 21-19. The Spaniards Elsa and Liliana put up a great fight in losing to the FIVB 23rd ranked pair Yekaterina Birlova and Yevgeniya Ukolova of Russia, 21-23, 22-24, while the reigning world champions Bárbara and Ágatha won 21-12, 21-16 against the Chinese pair Wang and Yue. Kerry Walsh Jennings remained on course for her fourth consecutive gold medal with a straight sets win over the Italians Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini, who came into the Italian team just three days before it started, after Viktoria Orsi Toth was banned after testing positive for a banned substance.
The Brazilian duos of Larissa and Talita and Bárbara and Ágatha reached the semi-finals, but Larissa and and Talita only did so after winning the match of the tournament against the Swiss pair Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr 21-23, 27-25, 15-13. The four Brazilians were joined in the semis by Ludwig and Walkenhorst of Germany and Ross and Walsh Jennings, who celebrated her quarter-final victory on her 38th birthday.
The semi-finalists were made up of the top four seeds and it was a mixed day for the partisan Brazilian crowd. Firstly they had to witness top seeds Larissa and Talita lose in straight sets to the Germans 21-18, 21-12, but then they witnessed a piece of Olympic beach volleyball history as American Kerri Walsh Jennings lost her first ever match at the Olympics as second seeds Bárbara and Ágatha won 22-20, 21-18 against Walsh Jennings and April Ross. Prior to this match Walsh Jennings had only lost two sets in her 26-match Olympic career, now that figure had doubled.
In the bronze medal match, which many expected to be the gold medal match before the start of the tournament, Walsh Jennings and Ross looked down and out midway through the second set against Larissa and Talita after losing the first 21-17 and were trailing by three points in the second, but the American girls picked themselves up and set up a deciding set with a 21-17 win. Walsh Jennings made some crucial blocks in the third as the Americans ran out 15-9 winners.
In the final, Bárbara and Ágatha were the first Brazilian pair to appear in a women’s final since 2004 and were hoping to become only the second Brazilian winners of the gold medal after Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva in 1976. For Germany it was their first appearance in the final and they were guaranteed their first ever women’s medal. Whilst the Brazilians had the fervent support of the packed Copacabana Beach Arena behind them, they were no match for the German’s Ludwig and Walkenhorst. A neck-and-neck first set played in a strong wind, saw the lead change hands five times and was eventually won by the Germans 21-18, but in the second set the European girls led from the start and ran out comfortable 21-14 winners to capture their first ever medal, and the first ever women’s beach volleyball medal by a European country as they emulated their male counterparts Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann who won gold in 2012.
Date | 6 – 11 August 2016 |
---|---|
Format | Winners and runners-up in each group advanced to round one, along with the highest ranked third-placed teams. |
Date | 7 – 11 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-0 | 126-84 | ||
2 | Kinga Kołosińska / Monika Brzostek | POL | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4-3 | 117-120 | ||
3 | Yevgeniya Ukolova / Yekaterina Birlova | RUS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-5 | 127-141 | ||
4 | Lauren Fendrick / Brooke Sweat | USA | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2-6 | 127-152 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 07 Aug 10:00 | Centre Court | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 21-14, 21-16 | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS | |
Match #2 | 07 Aug 11:01 | Centre Court | Kołosińska / Brzostek | POL | 14-21, 21-13, 15-7 | Fendrick / Sweat | USA | |
Match #3 | 09 Aug 13:00 | Centre Court | Kołosińska / Brzostek | POL | 21-19, 21-18 | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS | |
Match #4 | 09 Aug 16:39 | Centre Court | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 21-16, 21-13 | Fendrick / Sweat | USA | |
Match #5 | 11 Aug 11:00 | Centre Court | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 21-10, 21-15 | Kołosińska / Brzostek | POL | |
Match #6 | 11 Aug 15:30 | Centre Court | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS | 21-18, 24-26, 15-13 | Fendrick / Sweat | USA |
Date | 6 – 10 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Elsa Baquerizo / Liliana Fernández | ESP | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-0 | 127-101 | ||
2 | Ágatha Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4-3 | 134-120 | ||
3 | Barbora Hermannová / Markéta Sluková | CZE | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3-5 | 132-145 | ||
4 | Ana Gallay / Georgina Klug | ARG | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1-6 | 106-133 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 06 Aug 13:00 | Centre Court | Baquerizo / Fernández | ESP | 21-11, 21-19 | Gallay / Klug | ARG | |
Match #2 | 06 Aug 15:30 | Centre Court | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 19-21, 21-17, 15-11 | Hermannová / Sluková | CZE | |
Match #3 | 08 Aug 11:20 | Centre Court | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 21-11, 21-17 | Gallay / Klug | ARG | |
Match #4 | 08 Aug 22:15 | Centre Court | Baquerizo / Fernández | ESP | 21-15, 21-19 | Hermannová / Sluková | CZE | |
Match #5 | 10 Aug 17:30 | Centre Court | Baquerizo / Fernández | ESP | 21-17, 22-20 | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | |
Match #6 | 10 Aug 22:20 | Centre Court | Hermannová / Sluková | CZE | 13-21, 21-19, 15-8 | Gallay / Klug | ARG |
Date | 6 – 10 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kerri Walsh Jennings / April Ross | USA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-1 | 142-101 | ||
2 | Wang Fan / Yue Yuan | CHN | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4-3 | 124-124 | ||
3 | Isabelle Forrer / Anouk Vergé-Dépré | SUI | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4-5 | 165-171 | ||
4 | Mariafe Artacho / Nicole Laird | AUS | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1-6 | 110-145 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 06 Aug 23:11 | Centre Court | Wang / Yue | CHN | 24-22, 18-21, 15-12 | Forrer / Vergé-Dépré | SUI | |
Match #2 | 07 Aug 0:34 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 21-14, 21-13 | Artacho / Laird | AUS | |
Match #3 | 08 Aug 10:00 | Centre Court | Forrer / Vergé-Dépré | SUI | 19-21, 21-16, 21-19 | Artacho / Laird | AUS | |
Match #4 | 09 Aug 0:00 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 21-16, 21-9 | Wang / Yue | CHN | |
Match #5 | 10 Aug 13:36 | Centre Court | Wang / Yue | CHN | 21-16, 21-11 | Artacho / Laird | AUS | |
Match #6 | 10 Aug 21:01 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 21-13, 22-24, 15-12 | Forrer / Vergé-Dépré | SUI |
Date | 7 – 11 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Laura Ludwig / Kira Walkenhorst | GER | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-1 | 138-103 | ||
2 | Jamie Broder / Kristina Valjas | CAN | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4-3 | 121-118 | ||
3 | Marta Menegatti / Laura Giombini | ITA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4-4 | 138-128 | ||
4 | Doaa El-Ghobashy / Nada Meawad | EGY | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-6 | 78-126 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 07 Aug 18:48 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-12, 21-15 | El-Ghobashy / Meawad | EGY | |
Match #2 | 07 Aug 22:00 | Centre Court | Broder / Valjas | CAN | 15-21, 21-18, 15-9 | Menegatti / Giombini | ITA | |
Match #3 | 09 Aug 12:10 | Centre Court | Menegatti / Giombini | ITA | 21-10, 21-13 | El-Ghobashy / Meawad | EGY | |
Match #4 | 09 Aug 18:37 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-17, 21-11 | Broder / Valjas | CAN | |
Match #5 | 11 Aug 15:29 | Court 2 | Broder / Valjas | CAN | 21-12, 21-16 | El-Ghobashy / Meawad | EGY | |
Match #6 | 11 Aug 21:00 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-18, 18-21, 15-9 | Menegatti / Giombini | ITA |
Date | 7 – 11 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sarah Pavan / Heather Bansley | CAN | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-0 | 126-102 | ||
2 | Joana Heidrich / Nadine Zumkehr | SUI | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4-3 | 131-110 | ||
3 | Karla Borger / Britta Büthe | GER | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-4 | 104-117 | ||
4 | Sophie van Gestel / Jantine van der Vlist | NED | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1-6 | 105-137 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 07 Aug 15:30 | Centre Court | Pavan / Bansley | CAN | 21-15, 21-17 | van Gestel / van der Vlist | NED | |
Match #2 | 07 Aug 21:00 | Centre Court | Heidrich / Zumkehr | SUI | 21-12, 21-16 | Borger / Büthe | GER | |
Match #3 | 09 Aug 21:00 | Centre Court | Borger / Büthe | GER | 21-19, 21-14 | van Gestel / van der Vlist | NED | |
Match #4 | 10 Aug 23:59 | Centre Court | Pavan / Bansley | CAN | 21-18, 21-18 | Heidrich / Zumkehr | SUI | |
Match #5 | 11 Aug 19:05 | Centre Court | Heidrich / Zumkehr | SUI | 17-21, 21-11, 15-8 | van Gestel / van der Vlist | NED | |
Match #6 | 11 Aug 22:08 | Centre Court | Pavan / Bansley | CAN | 21-19, 21-15 | Borger / Büthe | GER |
Date | 6 – 10 August 2016 |
---|
Pos | Pair | NOC | GP | Wins | Losses | Points | Sets | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Louise Bawden / Taliqua Clancy | AUS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6-1 | 145-112 | ||
2 | Madelein Meppelink / Marleen van Iersel | NED | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5-2 | 144-121 | ||
3 | Olaya Pérez / Norisbeth Agudo | VEN | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2-4 | 93-119 | ||
4 | Karen Cope / Natalia Alfaro | CRC | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0-6 | 96-126 |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Pair | NOC | Result | Pair | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 06 Aug 10:00 | Centre Court | Bawden / Clancy | AUS | 21-15, 21-14 | Cope / Alfaro | CRC | |
Match #2 | 06 Aug 18:30 | Centre Court | Meppelink / van Iersel | NED | 21-17, 21-11 | Pérez / Agudo | VEN | |
Match #3 | 08 Aug 17:41 | Centre Court | Meppelink / van Iersel | NED | 21-16, 21-16 | Cope / Alfaro | CRC | |
Match #4 | 08 Aug 23:09 | Centre Court | Bawden / Clancy | AUS | 21-9, 21-14 | Pérez / Agudo | VEN | |
Match #5 | 10 Aug 10:00 | Centre Court | Bawden / Clancy | AUS | 27-25, 18-21, 16-14 | Meppelink / van Iersel | NED | |
Match #6 | 10 Aug 18:30 | Centre Court | Pérez / Agudo | VEN | 21-16, 21-19 | Cope / Alfaro | CRC |
Date | 12 August 2016 — 0:04 |
---|---|
Format | Contested by third-place finishers in groups who did not advance automatically Winners of each match advanced to round one. |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 12 Aug 0:04 | Court 2 | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS | 21-19, 12-21, 15-10 | Hermannová / Sluková | CZE | |
Match #2 | 12 Aug 0:04 | Centre Court | Borger / Büthe | GER | 21-13, 21-8 | Pérez / Agudo | VEN |
Date | 12 – 13 August 2016 |
---|---|
Format | Winners of each match advanced to the quarter-finals. |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 12 Aug 16:00 | Centre Court | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 21-17, 21-19 | Borger / Büthe | GER | |
Match #2 | 13 Aug 20:00 | Centre Court | Heidrich / Zumkehr | SUI | 19-21, 21-13, 15-10 | Meppelink / van Iersel | NED | |
Match #3 | 13 Aug 12:01 | Centre Court | Pavan / Bansley | CAN | 21-16, 21-11 | Broder / Valjas | CAN | |
Match #4 | 13 Aug 15:00 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-19, 21-10 | Forrer / Vergé-Dépré | SUI | |
Match #5 | 13 Aug 0:00 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 21-10, 21-16 | Menegatti / Giombini | ITA | |
Match #6 | 13 Aug 23:00 | Centre Court | Bawden / Clancy | AUS | 15-21, 21-16, 15-11 | Kołosińska / Brzostek | POL | |
Match #7 | 12 Aug 11:00 | Centre Court | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 21-12, 21-16 | Wang / Yue | CHN | |
Match #8 | 12 Aug 19:00 | Centre Court | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS | 23-21, 24-22 | Baquerizo / Fernández | ESP |
Date | 14 – 15 August 2016 — 16:00 |
---|---|
Format | Winners of each match advanced to the semi-finals. |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 14 Aug 17:00 | Centre Court | Larissa / Talita | BRA | 21-23, 27-25, 15-13 | Heidrich / Zumkehr | SUI | |
Match #2 | 14 Aug 16:00 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-14, 21-14 | Pavan / Bansley | CAN | |
Match #3 | 15 Aug 0:02 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 21-14, 21-16 | Bawden / Clancy | AUS | |
Match #4 | 14 Aug 23:00 | Centre Court | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 23-21, 21-16 | Ukolova / Birlova | RUS |
Date | 16 – 17 August 2016 — 16:00 |
---|---|
Format | Winners of each match advanced to the final match. |
Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match #1 | 16 Aug 16:00 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-18, 21-12 | Larissa / Talita | BRA | |
Match #2 | 17 Aug 0:13 | Centre Court | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA | 22-20, 21-18 | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA |
Date | 17 August 2016 — 22:00 |
---|
Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Match 3/4 | 17 Aug 22:00 | Centre Court | Walsh Jennings / Ross | USA | 17-21, 21-17, 15-9 | Larissa / Talita | BRA | |
Match 1/2 | 17 Aug 23:59 | Centre Court | Ludwig / Walkenhorst | GER | 21-18, 21-14 | Rippel / Bárbara | BRA |