Football may be a national obsession in Brazil, but in Rio beach volleyball attracts plenty of attention.
Having taken place in central London four years ago, the sport returns to its spiritual home at the Olympic Games.
Demanding local fans will expect nothing less than gold in both the men’s and women’s events.
An impressive 12,000-capacity stadium, which is temporary and set to be dismantled as soon as the Games are over, is being put up right on Copacabana beach.
Construction on most of the Olympic venues is running behind time and beach volleyball is no different.
It is nearing completion, with players able to warm up on the main court, though it would be no surprise if there are workers putting the finishes touches as the fans are passing through the turnstiles for the opening matches.
This has happened at virtually every Olympics in modern times, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise and authorities are assuring the world that everything will be ready on time.
Everything you need to know about the iconic venue for the Olympic #BeachVolleyball event https://t.co/LhdtVmRwNrhttps://t.co/L4VriOtvz1
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 4, 2016
Brazil’s men’s team will play the second game of the tournament on the first day of the Games this Saturday, taking on Canada.
Security is tight at venues, with everyone going in subject to searches carried out by armed personnel. There are concerns that this may cause bottlenecks as people turn up to events close to their start times, though again organisers insist that this won’t be a problem.
Beach volleyball is an offshoot of the traditional indoor volleyball, played by two teams of six hitting a ball over a net with their hands only, with teams permitted up to three touches before accomplishing that feat.
On the sand, a match is contested on a best of three sets format. The first two sets are played to 21 points and the third, if required, is up to 15.
Points are scored when a team successfully grounds the ball in their opponents’ court or when their opponents fail to return the ball.
