Not long now until Olympic line-up is complete

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Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt will go to Rio as the top-seeded team men’s team. Photocredit: Joerg Mitter

Last week’s star-studded smart Hamburg Major was not only a battle for medals but also for all-important Olympic qualification. It was a pretty big deal.

The names and nations of 34 of the world’s best beach volleyball stars were signed, sealed and delivered and all they need now is some company!

Of course for those that have not made it via the automatic means, there is still a chance at the Continental Cup and Continental Cup Finals which take place in the next few weeks. Don’t worry if you’re struggling to get your head around all of this – just read our handy Dummies Guide to Olympic Qualification.

So far athletes from 17 different nations have rubber-stamped their passports following a long road to Rio and, next month, at our Gstaad Major once the Continental Cup is complete, the eagerly-anticipated Pool draw will be made.

Karla Borger and Britta Büthe will represent Germany in Rio. Photocredit: Joerg Mitter.

The big stories in Hamburg were Germany’s Lars Flüggen and Markus Böckermann and Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen booking their spots with dramatic performances, while Karla Borger and Britte Büthe held off the challenge Ilka Semmler and Katrin Holtwick in a gripping all-German dual in the women’s tournament.

So, once the Continental Cup is over we’ll explain how the draw works, but for now here’s the magical list of which stars automatically made it to Rio…

The men:

Alison Cerutti/Bruno Schmidt – Brazil
Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg – Brazil
Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen – Netherlands
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena – USA
Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst – Netherlands
Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson – USA
Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera – Spain
Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins – Latvia
Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov – Russia
Daniele Lupo/Pablo Nicolai – Italy
Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak – Poland
Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri – Italy
Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst – Austria
Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel – Poland
Markus Böckermann/Lars Flüggen – Germany
Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk – Canada
Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen – Mexico

The women:

Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca – Brazil
Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas – Brazil
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings – USA
Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst – Germany
Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan – Canada
Madelein Mepperlink/Marleen Van Iersel – Netherlands
Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy – Australia
Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth – Italy
Karla Borger/Britta Büthe – Germany
Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez – Spain
Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska – Poland
Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Vergé-Dépré – Switzerland
Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas – Canada
Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr – Switzerland
Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat – USA
Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug – Argentina
Fan Wang/Yuan Yue – China

And not forgetting…

The African Continental Cup took place back in April with teams from Egypt (men) and Tunisia (women) guaranteeing a place on the Copacabana. It’s now up to those nations to select which players to put forward on the flight to Rio.