Lausanne, Switzerland, November 30, 2016 - The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour returns to Poland for the 13th straight year from July 20-23 for the double-gender FIVB Olsztyn 4-Star Open. Returning to Olsztyn for the third straight year, the FIVB World Tour will be visiting Poland for the 16th time for a men’s competition in Poland and 14th women’s tournament held in Poland.
In last year’s FIVB Olsztyn Grand Slam, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins won the men’s gold and Germany’s Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst captured the women’s top spot on the podium.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesThe five-star structure instituted starting with the 2017 FIVB World Tour is one of the many steps taken by the FIVB to modernize and streamline its competitions in a golden period for beach volleyball on the heels of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
FIVB President Dr. Ary S. Graça F° said, “The aim of the new structure is to provide a platform and formation of events that increase the number of competitions in a growing number of hosting countries and create a sustainable business model while providing additional commercial flexibility and opportunities.”
The four Polish sites of FIVB international events have been Myslowice (two men, two women), Olsztyn (two men, two women), Stare Jablonki (11 men, seven women) and Warsaw (two women).
Through the 2016 event, Poland has hosted a total of 27 FIVB World Tour events (15 men, 13 women) over a 12-year period with Brazil leading the medal count in both genders. In the men’s totals after 15 events, Brazil has 17 medals, followed by the USA with eight, Germany with five each, Latvia and Spain with three each and with one men’s medal each in Poland are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Switzerland.
After 13 FIVB World Tour women’s events held in Poland through 2016, Brazil leads the medal parade with 16 total medals followed by Germany with six, China with five, USA with four, Italy and the Netherlands with two each and with one women’s medal each in Poland are Australia, Norway, Poland and the Slovak Republic.
Olsztyn is one of the most important cities in Poland. It is located at the north eastern part of the country of Poland. The city of Olsztyn was established in 1353 and has a population of just under 200,000. The area of the city covers 88.328 km (34.104 sq mi). Olsztyn is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian province in Poland. Olsztyn is immensely popular with the tourists from all over the world for the dense forests and the lakes situated in the region.
Olsztyn is famous for the lakes that are located in the city. There are 13 lakes in Olsztyn. The lakes in Olsztyn add to the beauty of the landscape of the region and also provide many activities for tourists.
The highlight of the 2017 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour calendar will be the 2017 FIVB World Championships, a 48-team (per gender) event to be held July 28-August 6 in Vienna, Austria.
The 2017 FIVB World Ranking system will include FIVB Beach Volleyball Major Series, 5-star, 4-star, 3-star, 2-star and 1-star events along with additional pre-approved events at the inter-continental, continental and national levels.
Implemented in 2013, the format of all the FIVB Beach Volleyball international tournaments are the same, featuring pool play followed by single elimination knockout rounds.
Country quota playoffs are also held, as needed, to determine the final teams for qualification tournaments.