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Here's a look at how Beach Volleyball has grown and important achievements since its birth.
2006-2008
-
 The
2006-2008 Calendars will feature 100 events in 5
continents with more than
US$22,000,000 in global Prize Money.
The 2006 Grand Slam events will be staged in
Switzerland, Norway, Parris and Austria. The FIVB are currently working on projects to expand
Beach Volleyball events in the USA, Asia and the UK.
In 2007, the unprecedented number of 33 events has been
reached (with 17 women's and 16 men's tournaments) with
a total Prize Money of US$7,37-million.
- Pic: Grand Slam Paris 2005
FIVB is currently negotiating with the Swiss organizers
the possibilities to stage the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World
Championships in Gstaad or in another city.
FIVB is currently further developing the Challenger and
Satellite events. These events will represent valid
grass roots for athletes and organizers. There will be
a minimum of 20 events and the opportunity to grow and
develop the sport in more countries.
The FIVB
continutes to work with the BOCOG to stage the Beach Volleyball
tournaments at a site in downtown Beijing for the
2008 Olympic Games.
2005
 The
2005 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour featured 31 events, including a
record 16 stops for women and 15 for men, on five continents.
A total of $7.28-million in prize money was distributed for
"open" events.
Grand Slam events were staged in Berlin (US$1-million
SWATCH-FIVB World Championships), Norway, Paris and Austria. The
men's Grand Slam featured four different winners while Americans
Misty-May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won three women's Grand Slams.
May-Treanor and Walsh joined Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio
Magalhaes as the 2005 SWATCH-FIVB World Champions.
Pic: SWATCH-FIVB World Championships, Berlin 2004
A record 25
challenger/satellite events sanctioned with nearly $400,000 in
prize money.
2004
 -Swatch and the FIVB renewed
the agreement as Title sponsor of the World Tour and
World Championships for an additional 4 years
(2005-2008).
-The FIVB launched a 4 year calendar aiming to implement
a powerful long term marketing and TV distribution plan.
-The season was a landmark for Beach Volleyball having
scheduled 26 tournaments (14 men’s & 12 women’s events)
in 5 Continents with a total of US$ 5,3000,000 in Prize
Money and over 750,000 spectators.
-The year held amazing tournaments including three leg
Grand Slam events in Berlin Germany (US$ 600,000 Prize Money), Marseille-France (US$ 560,000
Prize Money) and
Klagenfurt-Austria (US$540,000 Prize Money).
-The Junior World Championships Under-18 were held in
Italy, Termoli and Junior World Championships Under-21
were held in Porto Santo, Portugal, also complementing the
calendar were 3 Challenger events, 9 Satellite & 4
Exhibition events.
-The highlights were the final assessment of 24 men and
24 women vacancies for the Olympic Games in Athens,
Greece from August 14-25th. The Swatch-FIVB World Tour
is the only recognized circuit for Olympic Qualification
through participation.
Athens Olympic Games
 -Olympic Games in Athens from 14-25 August had over 700
athletes and 50 teams vying for a ticket to the world's
sporting spectacular.
-The Beach Volleyball competition schedule lasted for 12
days with the best players comprising of 24 Men & 24 Women teams
which played alternate matches on centre
court. The teams played a minimum of 3 matches and for
the first time, night sessions were introduced. The teams came from 24 countries
over 5 continents and put on a superb display of
athleticism. The competition was designed in order to
satisfy the needs of the Olympic Games TV right holders,
as a result of successful coordination between all
parties. The TV ratings were the best so far in the
history of Beach Volleyball. The beautiful stadium held
10,000 spectators and displayed two giant video walls
providing live feeds. For the first time at the Games,
an entertainment programme was implemented with 12
dancers, DJs and Production Managers who performed at Le
Felizo Complex creating a joyful and unique atmosphere.
-Additionally there were two Beach Volleyball courts
open to the public and an area for the sponsor’s stands
which bordered eight training courts.
See
2004 rankings
2003
 -Swatch became the Title
Sponsor of the World Tour and Presenting Sponsor of the
World Championships, thus creating a new logo/title as
visual for posters, flyers, tickets etc. and also the
introduction of Swatch technology such as electronic
scoreboards and speedball device at all events.
-Swatch-FIVB World Tour embraced 22 World Events (12
Women and 10 Men) and the 2004 Olympic Games qualification
tournaments in 4 continents with over 700 athletes from
more than 50 countries playing for a record Prize Money
nearing US$5,000,000. More than 600,000 spectators
attended on site at the above events.
-The Olympic qualification started and all Swatch-FIVB
World Tour events counted to determine the top 24
pairs per gender of the best 8 results per team.
(Maximum 2 teams per country competed in
Athens.)
-It had 4 Grand Slam Events, Klagenfurt-Austria
(US$520,000 Prize Money), Marseille-France (US$540,000
Prize Money), Berlin-Germany (US$600,000 Prize Money),
Carson LA-USA (US$600,000 Prize Money).
-FIVB World Championships presented by Swatch returned
to Rio de Janerio, Brazil with US$ 800,000 Prize Money,
with the top 48
men’s and 48 women’s teams from 5 continents. TV distribution
reached more than 200 countries with over
100,000 spectators and 200 accredited media journalists.
Beach Volleyball World Championships Ranking 2003 –
Women
First Place: Misty May & Kerri Walsh (USA); Second Place
Adriana Brandao Behar & Shelda Kelly Bruno (BRA); Third
Place Nathalie Cooke and Nicole Sanderson (AUS).
Beach Volleyball World Championships Ranking 2003 – Men
Men First Place: Ricardo Alex Costa Santos & Emanuel
Rego (BRA); Second Place Dax Holdren & Stein Metzger
(USA); Third Place Benjamin Insfran & Marcio Henrique
Araujo (BRA).
-2 Junior World Championships events Under-18 Thailand, Pattaya
(August 27-31) & Under-21 France, Saint Quay, Portrieux
(August 7-10).
-9 exhibition Events in Madeira, Japan, Italy, France,
Switzerland, Italy, Mexico, Norway and San Marino and 1
Challenger event played at the test event in Athens,
Greece (August 19-24) and 3 satellite events comprising
of one men’s
event in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Men’s & Women’s
event in Lavandou, France.
-In this year, the Swatch FIVB World Tour finally became
a well recognized TV property with 10 x 26 minutes
highlights programs produced for all Grand Slam and Open
events and one 52 minutes show for the World Championship
event. The FIVB TV programmes gained over 510 hours of
all swatch FIVB World Tour events, 5 billion TV viewers
with 30 million contacts on Eurosport. There was also
extensive news production and distribution (205
territories with 700 minutes and 425 excerpts of news
distribution) as well as unilateral opportunities and
features for all networks.
-Promotional and public relations, VIP packages and
promotional activities were available to attract
audiences as well as the creation of special access
passes for major events.
-There was constant organisation of the anti-doping
tests to guarantee the integrity of the athletes and
maintain a drug free sport.
-A test event was staged in Augustin, Athens to assess
the competition, sporting equipment, personnel, venue,
sound results system, etc., leading towards the smooth
organisation of the Beach Volleyball Tournaments at the
2004 Olympic Games. The Test event was staged under the
category of men’s Challenger and proved to be a very
useful test event prior to the Olympic Games.
See 2003 rankings
2002
-A growth plan is
launched by the FIVB with the aim to establish Beach
Volleyball as one of the most popular summer sports in
2008.
-The season scheduled 21 tournaments (11 men & 10 women)
over 4 continents and 12 countries with total Prize Money of US$ 3,350,000. The year saw two Grand Slam
events Marseille (France) & Klagenfurt (Austria).
-Officially, FIVB introduced
an annual Under-21 and Under-18 Beach Volleyball World
Championships to encourage future Beach Volleyball
generations to play the sport.
-The Under-21 World Championships for Men & Women
were held in Catania, North East coast of Sicily 10-14
July & the first edition of
the Under-18 Beach Volleyball World Championships
started on August 28
in Xylokastron, Greece with some 100 players from 20
countries.
-Challenger events were held in Kiev, Ukraine from 23-28
July and Satellite events were held in Lausanne
Switzerland from 15-18 August.
-The World
Council confirmed that the rally point system and a
smaller court (16m x 8m) would be adopted on the FIVB
Beach Volleyball World Tour and would also be included
at the Athens
2004 Olympic Games.
See
2002 rankings
2001
-12 Men’s and 12 Women’s events including the Goodwill
Games in Brisbane, Australia. Goodwill Games prize money was US$300,000. The FIVB total Prize
Money was US$ 1,275,000 and the Bonus Pool was US$
1,000,000.
-The World Championships held in Klagenfurt, Austria had
more than 120,000 spectators who attended the 5 day
competition with total Prize Money of US$ 500,000.
-The first Junior Beach Volleyball under-21 World
Championships held in Le Lavandou, France from 24-26
August 2001 included 24-teams for both the women's and
men's events. The FIVB launched this competition to
create the future ‘stars’. The event winners were Ms.
Shaylyn Bruno and Ms. Shelda Bruno from Brazil.
2000
- The year of the Olympic Games in Sydney where the top 24 men's and 24 women's teams in the world will be competing on Bondi Beach in the most important competition in the world. A wonderful venue with a stadium of 10,000 spectators and modern facilities have been set up to offer a top-class event to the Olympic family: players, fans, media, sponsors, etc.
- Teams representing more than 50 countries have taken part in the Olympic Games qualification process.
- The Athens Olympic Games Organising Committee has confirmed that Beach Volleyball is included in the Olympic Games programme in 2004
- The World Tour features 26 events totalling four million dollars in prize money.The Women's Tour has a tremendous increase in the number of tournaments from seven in 1999, up to twelve in 2000. Men and women athletes are given the same opportunities.
- The FIVB has assigned the 2001 World Championships to Austria (1st - 5th August 2001) and has reached an agreement with Turner Inc. to include beach volleyball into the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia (29th August - 4th September).
- A new rally scoring system has been tested on the occasion of a challenger and two satellite events for eventual future implementation.
1999
- The World Tour is the only international circuit recognised by the IOC for qualification in the Olympic Games. The qualification process consists of a period which began on 1st January 1999 and ends on August 15th 2000.
- The World Tour includes twelve men's and six women's open events totalling 3,660,000.00 USD in prize money.
- In 1999, the men and women's World Championships were organised in Europe for the first time. Organised every two years, this event distributes 600,000 USD in prize money ( 300,000 USD for each gender ) and was held in a special facility for 5000 spectators. By the end of the competition the total number of spectators reached nearly 50.000.
- For the first time beach volleyball was included in the Pan American Games which were held in Canada. In a packed stadium of 5000 spectators, the men's Canadian team Holden / Leinemann won the gold medal, and the women's team Adriana Behar / Shelda(BRA) got into first place.
1998
- 25 FIVB beach volleyball tournaments (World Tour and Goodwill Games) with a total of US$ 3,900,000 in prize money and FIVB bonus pool.
- New World Tour Open organisers : Argentina, Canada, China& Czech Republic whereas Chile and Bulgaria organised the challenger events.
- FOR the first time in the World Tour, men and women players were rewarded at the same level with US$ 170,000 prize money per Open event.
- Goodwill Games featured beach volleyball competitions from 22nd July - to 2nd August in New York's Central Park with the world's eight best men's and women's teams.
- Beach volleyball is included in major sports competitions such as the South East Asian Games, Central & Pan-American Games, Universiade, etc.
- FIVB offers new opportunities to mid-level players and organisers by introducing lower event categories : challenger, satellite and amateur tournaments, in addition to the major World Tour competitions such as the Grand Slam and Open events.
- More than 120 National Federations have regular beach volleyball activities.
1997
- 22 FIVB beach volleyball tournaments (World Tour) totalling 3,900,000 US$ in prize money and FIVB bonus pool.
- Ericsson and Nike presented the Men's and Women's Beach Volleyball World Championships at the UCLA Campus. Men and women players were rewarded on an equal footing with total of US$ 600,000 prize money and the event was broadcast in more than 120 countries.
- For the first time Austria, Italy & France hosted thewomen's World Tour events and Bulgaria and Czech Republic organised the challenger events.
- A new competition format with single elimination bracket and rally scoring system was tested in Marseille and Los Angeles.
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