Atlanta '96: Women poised for quick sand debut
SPORT-BY-SPORT GUIDE No 9: Beach volleyball
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.People have been hitting balls over nets on beaches for decades, but beach volleyball took off in earnest with tournaments in California in the early Eighties.
The sport is making its Olympic debut in Atlanta and differs from its indoor counterpart in that each team has just two players.
The court size is the same as for indoor volleyball (nine metres x nine metres on each side of the net), as is the height of the net (2.24m). The first team to score 15 points wins the match, and the teams change ends every five points. There is only one game per match in the Olympics.
In tactical terms, the players need to be expert all-rounders to cope with the demands of each having to cover a much larger area of the court.
Britain will be represented this summer by the pairing of Audrey Cooper and Amanda Glover in the women's event. They will be one of 18 teams from 13 countries taking part, and will be ranked 12th.
The Brazilians are currently ranked No 1 in the world, and will be sending two teams to compete in the women's event, while the Americans will be represented by three women's teams. These five will share the position of favourites.
GREAT BRITAIN: A Cooper and A Glover.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments