Olympic countdown: USA claim double in Beijing

Lausanne, Switzerland, June 9, 2016 - The fourth Olympic beach volleyball competition at Beijing 2008 again saw 24 women’s and 24 men’s teams competing against each other in a total of 108 matches, comprising 54 men's and 54 women's matches.

Quick links:
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - Men's beach volleyball tournament
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - Women's beach volleyball tournament
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - Men's volleyball tournament
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - Women's volleyball tournament

The 12,000-seat Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground was the stunning venue for the tournaments.

May-Treanor and Walsh won their second straight Olympic gold, beating Chinese pairs Jia Tian and Jie Wang and Zhang Xi and Xue Chen into second and third place, the two pairs collecting China's first-ever beach volleyball Olympic medals.

Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers made it a USA double on the sand with gold in the men's event, with Marcio Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes of Brazil finishing second and Emanuel and Ricardo claiming third.

This article is one of a series in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as the FIVB looks back at previous Olympic volleyball  and beach volleyball tournaments.

Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games
Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games
Munich 1972 Olympic Games
Montreal 1976 Olympic Games
Moscow 1980 Olympic Games
Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games
Seoul 1988 Olympic Games
Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games - Volleyball
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games - Volleyball
Athens 2004 Olympic Games - Beach volleyball
Athens 2004 Olympic Games - Volleyball