News Brazil issued a statement of intent ahead of next year’s beach volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, dominating the podiums at the world championships in the Netherlands this weekend (4-5 July) and earning their second places (as said by International Federation) in the men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments As host nation, Brazil was already guaranteed a place in both tournaments next year on Copacabana beach, but by taking both gold medals in The Hague they ensured that two Brazilian teams – the maximum allowed – will take part in each competition In the men’s world championship final on Sunday (5 July), Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt triumphed 12-21, 21-14, 22-20 over Dutch pair Reinder Nummerdor and Christian Varenhorst – who were cheered on by a boisterous home crowd – to top the podium, with fellow Brazilians Evandro Gonclaves and Pedro Solberg beating the USA’s Theodore Brunner and Nick Lucena for bronze Alison Cerutti (left) and Bruno Oscar Schmidt celebrate with the men's trophy (Photo: FIVB) The men’s success had followed a Brazilian 1-2-3 in the women’s tournament, with Barbara Seixas and Agatha Bednarczuk beating compatriots Taiana Lima and Fernanda Alves 21-18, 21-19 in Saturday’s (4 July) final, shortly after Juliana Felisberta da Silva and Maria Antonelli overcame Germans Katrin Holtwick and Ilka Semmler for bronze “For me this is crazy, I have got my head in the clouds”, said 32-year-old Bednarczuk, who was also voted player of the tournament “I can’t believe it I don’t have words for this moment ”Seixas, 27, was also overcome with emotion, saying: “I am speechless, it’s incredible We worked really hard for this and I even had my parents in the arena ”Brazil occupied all three places on the podium after the women's tournament ended (Photo: CBV) In a new format, the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships were hosted by four Dutch cities – The Hague, Amsterdam, Apeldoorn and Rotterdam – and boasted a record total attendance of 106,000 fans, with packed-out stadiums at every match One of the highlights was the ‘floating stadium’ used for the finals in The Hague – a purpose-built venue mounted on a floating pontoon on the Hofvijver, a pond in the city centre Forty-eight teams (24 men’s and 24 women’s) will compete in the beach volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games The top 15 pairs in each gender on the Olympic Ranking List as of 13 June next year will join Brazil, as will the winners of five continental championships (the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania) that finish in June 2016 The last places will be awarded to the top two male and female teams from the FIVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup in July 2016 The Rio 2016 quota places are awarded to the National Olympic Committees, which will make the final decision on which teams they send to the Games Rio2016 com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games) The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC) Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota