Lausanne, Switzerland, October 8, 2015 - With another ground breaking edition of the World Tour complete, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Council reflected on some outstanding events, achievements and numbers from an action-packed year.
A total of 394 men and 340 women’s players played at least one match on the FIVB World Tour this season.
Women
• Seven gold medal finishes for Talita/Larissa
• Record women's earnings for Talita/Larissa - $435,000
• Led by Brazil, 10 countries earned medals in the women's competition.
• Brazilian women won 21 medals - 11 golds, 6 silvers, 4 bronze
• Canada (6 total medals, 1 gold, 2 silvers, three bronze), Argentina (one silver), Poland (one bronze) won women's medals for the first time
• Top newcomers were Taru Lahti, Finland, Riikka Lehtonen, Finland, Carolina Horta Máximo, Brazil
• Most memorable moment was when Vanuatu's Linline Matauatu and Pata Miller defeated Italians Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth and FIVB world champions Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas in elimination matches in Long Beach
Men
• Six gold medal finishes for Bruno/Alison
• Record men's earnings for Bruno/Alison - $445,500
• Led by Brazil, 12 countries earned medals in the men's competition.
• Brazilian men won 11 medals - 7 golds, 1 silvers, 3 bronze
• Turkey won a medal for the first-time at the Lucerne Open (Murat Giginoglu/Volkan Gogtepe)
• Top newcomer was Adrian "Sky Ball" Carambula of Italy
• Most memorable moment was when Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera of Spain won their first-ever gold medal together at the Moscow Grand Slam by defeating Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Salgado 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) in 43 minutes. The Spaniards had finished second four times before winning a gold medal in Moscow.
Events
• The quality of a first-time event in Lucerne. It was better than several grand slams.
• The SWATCH Majors Series was a success, especially the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in Fort Lauderdale. Outside of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, the event was the best organized tournament in the United States.
• The United States was the site of three events - the first-time ever for three events in the USA in the same season.
• Most Memorable - Staging the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships at four different sites in The Netherlands. All world championships are special, but the Netherlands staged the most unique.