After hosting five events in 2016, the only event in Brazil on the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar will be the the double-gender FIVB Rio de Janeiro 4-Star open, to be held May17-21. It will be the 18th time for an FIVB World Tour men’s event in Rio and the 10th for the women.

 

In 2016, Brazil hosted five international events, with two in Rio-the FIVB Rio Grand Slam in March and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August. Last year at the FIVB Rio Grand Slam, winning the gold medal for the men was Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak while capturing gold for the women was USA’s April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings.

At the singularly spectacular Rio 2016 Olympic Games on iconic Copacabana Beach, winning the men’s gold medal was Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt and winning the women’s gold medal was Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst. 

 

Rio de Janeiro (River of January in Portuguese) is the second-largest city in Brazil, the sixth-largest city in the Americas and the world’s 39th largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s third-most populous state.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural settings, Carnival, samba, bossa nova and balneario beaches like Barra Tijuca, Copocabana, Ipanema and Leblon. In addition to the beaches, some of the most famous landmarks include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain, named one of the new seven wonders of the world; Sugarload Mountain with its cable car; the Sambodromo, a permanent grandstand-lined parade avenue which is used during Carnival; and  Maracana Stadium, one of the world’s largest football (soccer) stadiums.

Rio de Janeiro hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics—marking the first time a South American and Portuguese-speaking nation hosted these events, and the third time the Olympics was held in a Southern Hemisphere city.