Athens 2004 Official Report - LA84 Foundation

Left page:
Mark Williams (playing partner of
Julien Prosser) of Australia dives
for the ball during their match
against Patrick Heuscher and
Stephan Kobel of Switzerland in
the men's bronze medal match.
Switzerland won 19-21, 21-17, 15-13.
© Getty Images/R. Laberge
Beach Volleyball
Competition Sequence
Olympic Beach Volleyball was hosted from 14 until 25 August.
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Beach Volleyball is a high-standard discipline
that takes place in a unique setting. Games take
place on some of the most beautiful beaches of
the world, or in the historic centres of wellknown
cities. The atmosphere created by the
combination of music, rhythm and beat during a
Beach Volleyball game has made the sport very
popular
Description
Beach Volleyball is played on sand courts
measuring 16m x 8m by teams of two athletes.
The net divides the court into two equal
sections, each of which constitutes one team's
court. The objective of the sport is to pass the
ball over the net, touching the opponent's
court, while avoiding a corresponding action by
the opposing team. The match begins with the
serve that is hitting the ball with the aim of
passing it over the net to the opposing team.
Each play continues until the ball "lands" on the
ground within or outside the boundaries of the
court, or when the opposing team fails to
return the ball legally. Each team is allowed to hit
the ball up to three times, including contact
during an attempted block on the ball, before
returning it to the opposing team. In Beach
Volleyball, each team that wins a rally also wins a
point, regardless of which team has served.
Within each team, players execute the service
in turn. A match consists of the best three sets,
which are won, when a team gets to 21 points
with a lead of at least two points over the
opposing team. Otherwise the set continues,
until one of the two teams takes a two-point
lead and is declared winner of the set. The
winner of the match is the team that wins
two sets. There are men's and women's
tournaments both having the same format
and rules. The Olympic Beach Volleyball
competition comprises a Preliminary Round,
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and a Single Elimination Phase, for both Men
and Women.
Men's tournament
Women's tournament
Competitors: 96
Event
Men
Women
Venue
Players
48
48
Total: 2
NOC
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17
Sun
The Beach Volleyball tournament was held in
the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre in Faliro,
a new court with 9.600 seating capacity. The
fascinating sport became a dominant spectacle
in the warm and sandy environment of South
Attica, at the Faliro Coastal Zone.
Games Highlights
Women's
Since Beach Volleyball was introduced to the
Games, in 1996, the podium has been
dominated by Brazil and Australia. This time
around, however at the Women's Olympic
Beach Volleyball Tournament of ATHENS 2004,
the two participating USA teams brought
home the gold and the bronze. Kerri WALSH
and Misty MAY were the top seeds and strong
favourites coming into the Olympic
tournament, shutting out Brazil's Adriana
BEHAR/Shelda BEDE, the Sydney 2000 and
2003 World Championship silver medallists,
to add the Olympic gold to their already
impressive collection of titles in the last three
years. WALSH and MAY were joined on the
podium by Holly McPEAK and Elaine
YOUNGS, defeating Australia's Natalie COOK
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Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad 417