| | Event type

Beach Volleyball, Women

Date	28 July – 8 August 2012
Status	Olympic
Location	Horse Guards Parade, Centre Court, London
Participants	48 from 17 countries
Format	Top 16 teams from round-robin pools advanced to the single-elimination tournament.

London mayor Boris Johnson was able to watch some early rounds of beach volleyball and memorably wrote of the women’s tournament, “As I write these words there are semi-naked women playing beach volleyball in the middle of the Horse Guards Parade immortalised by Canaletto. They are glistening like wet otters.” It was a demeaning description as the event featured one of the most dominant athletic pairs in Olympic history, Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. Walsh and May-Treanor came in as the two-time defending champions, never having lost a set at the Olympics. But after Beijing they had backed off from the sport a bit, getting married, having babies, and May-Treanor competed on the American television show, “Dancing With the Stars,” before she tore her Achilles’ tendon in the process. But the two came back in 2011 and won the World Championships, and although only seeded third, behind Brazil’s Larissa and Juliana and China’s Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, they were expected to be formidable.

They were. But in pool play they looked vulnerable after losing their first Olympic set to Austria’s sister pairing of Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger. They still advanced to the final, by defeating Xue and Zhang in the semis. In the other semi, Americans Jennifer Kessy and April Ross shocked Larissa and Juliana to create an all-USA final. The final was a comfortable victory for Walsh and May-Treanor, winning in straight sets, 21-16, 21-16. Their third consecutive gold medal made them only the second team in Olympic victory to win three straight gold medals with identical team members, after Pavol and Peter Hochschorner in Canadian canoe slalom doubles in 2000-08. Third place went to Brazil who defeated China 2-1 in the bronze medal match.

Pos	Team	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points	Service Att.	Service Faults	Aces	Fastest Serve	Attack Att.	Attack Succ.	Block Succ.	Opp. Errors	Total Pts.	Dig Succ.
1	United States 1	USA	7	7	0	14	14 - 1	307 - 232	302	18	15	–	367	189	25	7	7	150	Gold
	Kerri Walsh Jennings								154	14	11	69	123	69	24	–	–	24
	Misty May-Treanor								148	4	4	54	244	120	1	–	–	25
2	United States 2	USA	7	6	1	13	12 - 5	320 - 299	315	49	23	–	359	209	17	7	7	110	Silver
	April Ross								175	27	14	81	171	106	5	–	–	12
	Jen Kessy								140	22	9	71	188	103	12	–	–	18
3	Brazil 1	BRA	7	6	1	13	13 - 3	309 - 235	303	14	23	–	332	179	16	7	7	135	Bronze
	Juliana								144	4	10	55	172	93	15	–	–	42
	Larissa								159	10	13	78	160	86	1	–	–	41
4	People's Republic of China	CHN	7	4	3	11	10 - 7	319 - 278	312	40	28	–	366	214	22	7	7	129
	Xue Chen								160	24	21	63	134	82	22	–	–	90
	Zhang Xi								152	16	7	59	232	132	0	–	–	32
=5	Germany 1	GER	5	3	2	8	7 - 5	231 - 217	236	33	17	–	262	136	13	5	5	77
	Laura Ludwig								126	15	5	61	120	65	0	–	–	55
	Sara Goller								110	18	12	79	142	71	13	–	–	19
=5	Czech Republic 1	CZE	5	3	2	8	6 - 7	230 - 230	230	30	15	–	304	148	11	5	5	116
	Markéta Sluková								106	12	6	59	146	67	11	–	–	35
	Kristýna Kolocová								124	18	9	69	158	81	0	–	–	17
=5	Italy	ITA	5	4	1	9	8 - 4	222 - 196	225	24	18	–	251	126	13	5	5	90
	Marta Menegatti								117	10	7	54	153	67	0	–	–	38
	Greta Cicolari								108	14	11	62	98	59	13	–	–	56
=5	Austria	AUT	6	3	3	9	8 - 8	264 - 266	261	25	18	–	348	161	15	6	6	117
	Stefanie Schwaiger								127	13	5	68	165	85	15	–	–	79
	Doris Schwaiger								134	12	13	62	183	76	0	–	–	14
=9	Netherlands 1	NED	5	2	3	7	4 - 6	172 - 194	172	36	12	–	218	100	16	5	5	56
	Madelein Meppelink								83	15	6	67	131	61	16	–	–	29
	Sophie van Gestel								89	21	6	70	87	39	0	–	–	15
=9	Germany 2	GER	4	2	2	6	4 - 4	146 - 139	144	17	8	–	200	109	5	4	4	63
	Katrin Holtwick								79	13	5	82	111	58	0	–	–	59
	Ilka Semmler								65	4	3	61	89	51	5	–	–	51
=9	Brazil 2	BRA	4	3	1	7	7 - 4	208 - 194	207	25	15	–	216	118	17	4	4	73
	Maria Elisa								113	22	10	76	126	67	0	–	–	5
	Talita								94	3	5	68	90	51	17	–	–	73
=9	Switzerland	SUI	4	1	3	5	4 - 6	170 - 181	172	21	15	–	208	95	8	4	4	60
	Simone Kuhn								91	7	9	58	74	37	8	–	–	49
	Nadine Zumkehr								81	14	6	57	134	58	0	–	–	43
=9	Netherlands 2	NED	4	1	3	5	4 - 6	159 - 168	161	26	7	–	188	96	5	4	4	65
	Marleen van Iersel								92	14	6	77	110	50	0	–	–	27
	Sanne Keizer								69	12	1	78	78	46	5	–	–	54
=9	Spain	ESP	4	2	2	6	5 - 5	180 - 185	177	21	16	–	190	103	3	4	4	54
	Liliana Fernández								81	6	4	61	60	35	3	–	–	107
	Elsa Baquerizo								96	15	12	61	130	68	0	–	–	64
=9	Russian Federation 1	RUS	4	2	2	6	5 - 5	180 - 192	178	27	8	–	239	116	8	4	4	87
	Yekaterina Khomyakova								80	8	3	61	111	51	7	–	–	4
	Yevgeniya Ukolova								98	19	5	62	128	65	1	–	–	14
=9	Russian Federation 2	RUS	4	2	2	6	6 - 6	203 - 202	208	9	14	–	229	120	20	4	4	87
	Anastasiya Vasina								90	3	4	68	62	34	20	–	–	47
	Anna Vozakova								118	6	10	73	167	86	0	–	–	18
=17	Great Britain	GBR	4	1	3	5	2 - 7	146 - 178	146	28	9	–	200	92	7	4	4	61
	Zara Dampney								79	10	5	93	102	50	0	–	–	61
	Shauna Mullin								67	18	4	71	98	42	7	–	–	21
=17	Czech Republic 2	CZE	4	1	3	5	2 - 6	140 - 147	141	14	14	–	170	80	7	4	4	56
	Hana Klapalová								69	8	11	62	70	39	7	–	–	37
	Lenka Háječková								72	6	3	60	100	41	0	–	–	21
=19	Argentina	ARG	3	0	3	3	0 - 6	93 - 127	97	19	11	–	113	57	6	3	3	16
	Ana Gallay								51	10	6	69	59	32	6	–	–	47
	Virginia Zonta								46	9	5	62	54	25	0	–	–	69
=19	Australia 1	AUS	3	0	3	3	2 - 6	127 - 151	127	23	11	–	152	70	5	3	3	39
	Becchara Palmer								64	16	5	75	104	41	0	–	–	18
	Louise Bawden								63	7	6	58	48	29	5	–	–	68
=19	Australia 2	AUS	3	0	3	3	2 - 6	136 - 151	138	9	5	–	189	80	8	3	3	76
	Natalie Cook								79	2	3	57	146	63	0	–	–	34
	Tamsin Hinchley								59	7	2	57	43	17	8	–	–	39
=19	Canada	CAN	3	0	3	3	3 - 6	156 - 176	159	12	12	–	197	97	7	3	3	51
	Annie Martin								70	3	4	70	87	43	7	–	–	55
	Marie-Andree Lessard								89	9	8	60	110	54	0	–	–	11
=19	Greece	GRE	3	1	2	4	2 - 5	119 - 130	121	10	10	–	145	80	2	3	3	48
	Maria Tsiartsiani								51	2	2	55	96	54	2	–	–	14
	Viky Arvaniti								70	8	8	71	49	26	0	–	–	22
=19	Mauritius	MRI	3	0	3	3	0 - 6	57 - 126	62	9	1	–	109	34	2	3	3	18
	Natacha Rigobert								32	6	1	59	53	19	2	–	–	21
	Elodie Li Yuk Lo								30	3	0	55	56	15	0	–	–	40

Preliminary Round (28 July – 2 August 2012)

First two and two best numbers three of each group qualified for Round One, other numbers three advanced to lucky-losers round.

Group A (28 July – 1 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	3	3	0	6	6 - 0	126 - 76	Q
2	Katrin Holtwick / Ilka Semmler	GER	3	2	1	5	4 - 2	115 - 97	Q
3	Hana Klapalová / Lenka Háječková	CZE	3	1	2	4	2 - 4	106 - 105	q
4	Natacha Rigobert / Elodie Li Yuk Lo	MRI	3	0	3	3	0 - 6	57 - 126

Match #1	Katrin Holtwick / Ilka Semmler	GER	Hana Klapalová / Lenka Háječková	CZE	21-16, 21-18
Match #2	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Natacha Rigobert / Elodie Li Yuk Lo	MRI	21-5, 21-10
Match #3	Hana Klapalová / Lenka Háječková	CZE	Natacha Rigobert / Elodie Li Yuk Lo	MRI	21-10, 21-11
Match #4	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Katrin Holtwick / Ilka Semmler	GER	21-18, 21-13
Match #5	Katrin Holtwick / Ilka Semmler	GER	Natacha Rigobert / Elodie Li Yuk Lo	MRI	21-11, 21-10
Match #6	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Hana Klapalová / Lenka Háječková	CZE	21-12, 21-18

Group B (28 July – 1 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	Anastasiya Vasina / Anna Vozakova	RUS	3	2	1	5	5 - 4	156 - 150	Q
2	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	3	2	1	5	5 - 3	143 - 135	Q
3	Simone Kuhn / Nadine Zumkehr	SUI	3	1	2	4	4 - 4	136 - 139	Q
4	Maria Tsiartsiani / Viky Arvaniti	GRE	3	1	2	4	2 - 5	119 - 130

Match #1	Anastasiya Vasina / Anna Vozakova	RUS	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	18-21, 21-14, 16-14
Match #2	Simone Kuhn / Nadine Zumkehr	SUI	Maria Tsiartsiani / Viky Arvaniti	GRE	21-13, 21-19
Match #3	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	Simone Kuhn / Nadine Zumkehr	SUI	21-18, 16-21, 15-8
Match #4	Maria Tsiartsiani / Viky Arvaniti	GRE	Anastasiya Vasina / Anna Vozakova	RUS	18-21, 21-13, 15-12
Match #5	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	Maria Tsiartsiani / Viky Arvaniti	GRE	21-17, 21-16
Match #6	Anastasiya Vasina / Anna Vozakova	RUS	Simone Kuhn / Nadine Zumkehr	SUI	21-17, 19-21, 15-9

Group C (28 July – 1 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	3	3	0	6	6 - 1	137 - 109	Q
2	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	3	2	1	5	4 - 4	133 - 137	Q
3	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	3	1	2	4	4 - 5	141 - 150	q
4	Natalie Cook / Tamsin Hinchley	AUS	3	0	3	3	2 - 6	136 - 151

Match #1	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	10-21, 21-13, 15-13
Match #2	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Natalie Cook / Tamsin Hinchley	AUS	21-18, 21-19
Match #3	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	Natalie Cook / Tamsin Hinchley	AUS	18-21, 22-20, 15-10
Match #4	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	21-14, 21-19
Match #5	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	Natalie Cook / Tamsin Hinchley	AUS	21-16, 18-21, 15-11
Match #6	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	17-21, 21-8, 15-10

Group D (28 July – 2 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	3	3	0	6	6 - 2	149 - 130	Q
2	Liliana Fernández / Elsa Baquerizo	ESP	3	2	1	5	5 - 3	150 - 143	Q
3	Marleen van Iersel / Sanne Keizer	NED	3	1	2	4	4 - 4	134 - 126	Q
4	Ana Gallay / Virginia Zonta	ARG	3	0	3	3	0 - 6	93 - 127

Match #1	Liliana Fernández / Elsa Baquerizo	ESP	Marleen van Iersel / Sanne Keizer	NED	14-21, 21-16, 15-11
Match #2	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Ana Gallay / Virginia Zonta	ARG	21-11, 21-18
Match #3	Liliana Fernández / Elsa Baquerizo	ESP	Ana Gallay / Virginia Zonta	ARG	22-20, 21-16
Match #4	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Marleen van Iersel / Sanne Keizer	NED	21-15, 12-21, 15-8
Match #5	Marleen van Iersel / Sanne Keizer	NED	Ana Gallay / Virginia Zonta	ARG	21-12, 21-16
Match #6	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Liliana Fernández / Elsa Baquerizo	ESP	21-19, 19-21, 19-17

Group E (28 July – 2 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	Maria Elisa / Talita	BRA	3	3	0	6	6 - 2	161 - 138	Q
2	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	3	2	1	5	5 - 3	160 - 144	Q
3	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	3	1	2	4	2 - 4	103 - 118	q
4	Becchara Palmer / Louise Bawden	AUS	3	0	3	3	2 - 6	127 - 151

Match #1	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	Becchara Palmer / Louise Bawden	AUS	21-18, 19-21, 15-8
Match #2	Maria Elisa / Talita	BRA	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	21-10, 21-19
Match #3	Maria Elisa / Talita	BRA	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	21-19, 29-31, 15-13
Match #4	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	Becchara Palmer / Louise Bawden	AUS	21-19, 21-15
Match #5	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	21-18, 21-14
Match #6	Maria Elisa / Talita	BRA	Becchara Palmer / Louise Bawden	AUS	18-21, 21-16, 15-9

Group F (28 July – 2 August 2012)

Pos	Player	NOC	GP	W	L	Pts	Sets	Points
1	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	3	3	0	6	6 - 2	154 - 124	Q
2	Yekaterina Khomyakova / Yevgeniya Ukolova	RUS	3	2	1	5	5 - 3	157 - 150	Q
3	Zara Dampney / Shauna Mullin	GBR	3	1	2	4	2 - 5	119 - 136	q
4	Annie Martin / Marie-Andree Lessard	CAN	3	0	3	3	3 - 6	156 - 176

Match #1	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	Yekaterina Khomyakova / Yevgeniya Ukolova	RUS	17-21, 21-18, 15-8
Match #2	Zara Dampney / Shauna Mullin	GBR	Annie Martin / Marie-Andree Lessard	CAN	17-21, 21-14, 15-13
Match #3	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	Zara Dampney / Shauna Mullin	GBR	21-18, 21-12
Match #4	Yekaterina Khomyakova / Yevgeniya Ukolova	RUS	Annie Martin / Marie-Andree Lessard	CAN	21-18, 28-30, 15-13
Match #5	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	Annie Martin / Marie-Andree Lessard	CAN	21-12, 23-25, 15-10
Match #6	Yekaterina Khomyakova / Yevgeniya Ukolova	RUS	Zara Dampney / Shauna Mullin	GBR	25-23, 21-13

Lucky Loser Round (2 August 2012)

Winners of each match advanced to the round one.

Match #1	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	Zara Dampney / Shauna Mullin	GBR	21-15, 21-12
Match #2	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	Hana Klapalová / Lenka Háječková	CZE	21-17, 21-17

Round One (3 – 4 August 2012)

Winners of each match advanced to the quarter-finals.

Match #1	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Madelein Meppelink / Sophie van Gestel	NED	21-10, 21-17
Match #2	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	Katrin Holtwick / Ilka Semmler	GER	21-16, 21-15
Match #3	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	Maria Elisa / Talita	BRA	21-16, 20-22, 15-9
Match #4	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Simone Kuhn / Nadine Zumkehr	SUI	21-15, 21-19
Match #5	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Marleen van Iersel / Sanne Keizer	NED	21-13, 21-12
Match #6	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	Liliana Fernández / Elsa Baquerizo	ESP	21-15, 21-15
Match #7	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	Yekaterina Khomyakova / Yevgeniya Ukolova	RUS	21-12, 21-11
Match #8	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	Anastasiya Vasina / Anna Vozakova	RUS	21-17, 16-21, 15-9

Quarter-Finals (5 August 2012)

Winners of each match advanced to the semi-finals.

Match #1	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Laura Ludwig / Sara Goller	GER	21-10, 21-19
Match #2	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Markéta Sluková / Kristýna Kolocová	CZE	25-23, 21-18
Match #3	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Marta Menegatti / Greta Cicolari	ITA	21-13, 21-13
Match #4	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	Stefanie Schwaiger / Doris Schwaiger	AUT	21-18, 21-11

Semi-Finals (7 August 2012)

Winners of each match advanced to the final match.

Match #1	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	15-21, 21-19, 15-12
Match #2	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	22-20, 22-20

Final Round (8 August 2012)

Match 1/2	Kerri Walsh Jennings / Misty May-Treanor	USA	April Ross / Jen Kessy	USA	21-16, 21-16
Match 3/4	Juliana / Larissa	BRA	Xue Chen / Zhang Xi	CHN	11-21, 21-19, 15-12