Rio 2016 Olympic beach volleyball Drawing of Lots Saturday in Gstaad

With 22 of the 24 berths in each gender’s competition already filled for the August 6-18 Rio Olympic competition, the final two men’s and women’s berth will be determined this weekend in the FIVB Continental Cup Finals in Russia where the matches begin Thursday in Sochi at the same site where two FIVB World Tour qualifying events were staged last September and this past May.

The top-six spots in each Rio 2016 pool for men and women have already been determined via the FIVB World Tour where 28 women’s and 30 men’s events were held from April 2015 through June 12, 2016.  Brazil secured two spots in the top six seeds in both the men’s and women’s competition by winning both gender’s 2015 FIVB World Championships along with having a second team qualify by finishing among the top teams on the FIVB World Tour and as hosts.

Excluding Brazilians, the 15 highest ranked teams on the Olympic Ranking List as of June 13, 2016 earned one quota place for their national federation to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, respecting the maximum of two quota places per national federation.

Each team must have participated in a minimum of 12 official FIVB Olympic Qualification tournaments (FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, recognized Continental Tour Finals) scheduled from January 1, 2015 until June 12, 2016 should they wish to be selected by a qualified national federation.

An additional five Rio Olympic Games berths were rewarded to the Continental Cup winners from the African, Asian, European, NORCECA and South American confederations.  The second- and third-place finishers from each confederation qualified for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Continental Cup Finals in Sochi. With host Russia receiving a “wild card” entry for the women’s Finals in Sochi, the fourth-place finishers for the European playoffs were also granted an opportunity to qualify for the Rio Games.

Here is the men’s process to determine the seedings for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games followed by the women’s draw.

Pool A - Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil (2015 FIVB world champions, No. 1 FIVB World Tour)

Pool B - Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands (No. 2 FIVB World Tour)

Pool C - Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (No. 3 FIVB World Tour)

Pool D - Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil (host country, No. 4 FIVB World Tour)

Pool E - Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands (No. 5 FIVB World Tour)

Pool F - Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson, United States (No. 6 FIVB World Tour)

Draw 1 will determine the teams to be seeded from 7 to 9 in pools F, E and D;

• Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain (No. 7)

• Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins, Latvia (No. 8)

• Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov, Russia (No. 9)

Draw 2 will determine the teams to be seeded from 10 to 12 in pools C, B and A;

• Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (No. 10)

• Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (No. 11)

• Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy (No. 12)

Draw 3 will determine the teams to be seeded from 13 to 17 in pools A, B, C, D and E;

• Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria (No. 13)

• Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (No. 14, cannot be in the same Pool as compatriots Kantor/Losiak)

• Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany (No. 15)

• Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk, Canada (No. 16)

• Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (No. 17)

Draw 4 will determine the team to be seeded 18 and placed in pool F;

• To be determined, Tunisia (African confederation)

• Jefferson Pereira/Cherif Younousse, Qatar (Asian confederation)

• Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl, Austria (European confederation)

• Nivaldo Diaz/Sergio Gonzalez, Cuba (NORCECA confederation)

• Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt, Chile (South American confederation)

Draw 5 will determine the teams to be seeded 19 to 22 and placed in pools F, E, D and C;

• Four of the five confederation winners not drawn to file a spot in Pool F

• If Huber/Seidl are not drawn to fill the fourth spot in Pool F, they cannot be in the same Pool with compatriots Doppler/Horst)

Draw 6 will determine the team to be seeded 23 to 24 and placed in pool B and A.

• FIVB Continental Cup Finals entry winner

• FIVB Continental Cup Finals entry runners-up

Pool A - Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca, Brazil (host country, No. 1 FIVB World Tour)

Pool B - Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil (2015 FIVB world champions, No. 2 FIVB World Tour)

Pool C - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (No. 3 FIVB World Tour)

Pool D - Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (No. 4 FIVB World Tour)

Pool E - Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada (No. 5 FIVB World Tour)

Pool F - Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (No. 6 FIVB World Tour)

Draw 1 will determine the teams to be seeded from 7 to 9 in pools F, E and D;

• Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (No. 7)

• Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany (No. 8, cannot be in the same Pool as Ludwig/Walkenhorst, Pool D)

• Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, Italy (No. 9)

Draw 2 will determine the teams to be seeded from 10 to 12 in pools C, B and A;

• Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain (No. 10)

• Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland (No. 11)

• Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (No. 12)

Draw 3 will determine the teams to be seeded from 13 to 17 in pools A, B, C, D and E;

• Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (No. 13, cannot be in the same Pool with Bansley/Pavan, Pool E)

• Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (No. 14, cannot be in the same Pool as Forrer/Verge-Depre)

• Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat, United States (No. 15, cannot be in the same Pool as Ross/Walsh Jennings, Pool C)

• Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug, Argentina (No. 16)

• Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China (No. 17)

Draw 4 will determine the team to be seeded 18 and placed in pool F;

• To be determined, Egypt (African confederation)

• Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird, Australia (Asian confederation)

• Karen Cope Charles/Nathalia Alfaro, Costa Rica, NORCECA confederation)

• To be determined, Venezuela (South American Confederation)

Draw 5 will determine the teams to be seeded 19 to 22 and placed in pools F, E, D and C;

• Four of the five confederation winners not drawn to file a spot in Pool F

• Jantine van der Vlist/Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands (European confederation, cannot be in the same Pool with Meppelink/Van Iersel)

• If Artacho/Laird are not drawn to fil a spot in Pool F, they cannot be in the same Pool with Bawden/Clancy)

Draw 6 will determine the team to be seeded 23 to 24 and placed in pool B and A.

• FIVB Continental Cup Finals entry winner

• FIVB Continental Cup Finals entry runners-up

• At the present time, 23 countries will fill berths for the Rio 2016 Olympic Beach Volleyball competition.

1. Argentina - 1 women’s team

2. Australia - 2 women’s teams

3. Austria - 2 men’s teams

4. Brazil - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams

5. Canada - 1 men’s and 2 women’s teams

6. Chile - 1 men’s team (first-time for country)

7. China  1 women’s team

8. Costa Rica - 1 women’s team (first-time for country)

9. Cuba - 1 men’s team

10. Egypt - 1 women’s team (first-time for country)

11. Germany - 1 men’s and 2 women’s teams

12. Italy - 2 men’s and 1 women’s teams

13. Latvia - 1 men’s team

14. Mexico - 1 men’s team

15. Netherlands - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams

16. Poland - 2 men’s and 1 women’s teams (first-time for women)

17. Qatar - 1 men’s team (first-time for country)

18. Russia - 1 men’s team

19. Spain - 1 men’s and 1 women’s teams

20. Switzerland - 2 women’s teams

21. Tunisia - 1 men’s team (first-time for country)

22. United States - 2 men’s and 2 women’s teams

23. Venezuela - 1 women’s team (first-time for women)

• A total of five teams and 19 players will be repeat Olympians.  Of the 18 players, two have won Olympic gold medals, one has claimed silver and two have netted bronze.  Two players will become four-time Olympians

1. Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria (London 2012.  Doppler competed in Beijing 2008 with Peter Gartmayer and Horst with Florian Gosch.  Doppler also qualified for Athens 2004, but was replaced by Gosch due to a knee injury.)

2. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (London 2012)

3. Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel, Poland (London 2012)

4. Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain (London 2012.  Herrera won the Athens 2004 silver medal with Javier Bosma and competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympics with Raul Mesa)

1. Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain (London 2012)

1. Alison Cerutti, Brazil (London 2012 silver medal winner with Emanuel Rego)

2. Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Richard Schuill)

3. Phil Dalhausser, United States (Beijing 2008 gold medal winner, London 2012 with Todd Rogers)

4. Jake Gibb, United States (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Sean Rosenthal)

5. Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia (Beijing 2008 with Martins Plavins and London 2012 with Ruslans Sorokins)

6. Janis Smedins, Latvia (London 2012 bronze medal winner with Plavins)

7. Konstantin Semenov, Russia (London 2012 with Serguey Prokopyev)

1. Ana Gallay, Argentina (London 2012 with Virginia Zonta)

2. Louise Bawden, Australia (London 2012 with Becchara Palmer)

3. Talita Antunes, Brazil (Beijing 2008 with Renata Ribeiro and London 2012 with Maria Antonelli)

4. Larissa Franca, Brazil (Beijing 2008 with Ana Paula Connolly and London 2012 bronze medal winner with Juliana Felisberta)

5. Laura Ludwig, Germany (Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with Sarah Goller Niedrig)

6. Marta Menegatti, Italy (London 2012 with Greta Cicolari)

7. Madelein Meppelink, Netherlands (London 2012 with Sophie Van Gestel)

8. Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (London 2012 with Sanne Keizer)

9. Sophie Van Gestel, Netherlands (London 2012 with Meppelink)

10. Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (London 2012 with Simone Kuhn)

11. April Ross, United States (London 2012 silver medal winner with Jen Kessy)

12. Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 gold medal winner with Misty May-Treanor)

• Six Rio Olympic teams have won medals at FIVB World Championships.

1. Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil (2015 gold)

2. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen, Netherlands (2013 gold)

3. Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil (2015 gold)

4. Reinder Nummerdor/Christiaan Varenhorst, Netherlands (2015 silver)

5. Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany (2013 silver)

6. Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg, Brazil (2015 bronze)