Olympic Beach Volleyball Rankings, updated May 26

The race for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially began in February 2023 in Doha, Qatar, with the Volleyball World Elite16. The 2024 season began the first week of March back in Doha, and the final event of the Olympic qualification cycle will be the Ostrava Elite16, which ends on June 9. We’ll be providing these updates for the Beach Volleyball Olympic rankings after international points-earning tournaments:

On a dreary and otherwise innocuous Friday in April, Chase Budinger and Miles Evans landed what is arguably the biggest win of their Olympic race.

Maybe 50 people were there to see it.

A playoff for the NORCECA Continental Finals, a tournament worth the same Olympic and entry points as a Challenge, only with a handful of competitive teams as opposed to 24 of them, pitted Budinger and Evans against Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner in the finals. Budinger and Evans won, 15-13 in the third, and Budinger, typically a staid and quiet competitor, celebrated with uncharacteristic emotion. He yelled. Banged his chest. Friends and family stormed the court. A number of viewers were, at best, confused, at worst, poking fun at Budinger and Evans for such a seemingly low-stakes win.

Why the fuss over a NORCECA?

Because, in a round-about way, it might have decided the Olympic race.

Budinger and Evans went down to the Dominican Republic, mopped up the field, took the 800 Olympic points with them — but the effect of that win didn’t stop there. Far from it. The entry points they gained pushed them to the top seed in this past week’s Elite16 in Espinho Portugal, making their route through the qualifier considerably easier than that of Crabb and Brunner. They made good on it, making the main draw, winning pool, and finishing fifth, their second straight Elite16 fifth-place finish, the points from which tacked on another 300 points to an already-comfortable lead.

Budinger and Evans now lead Crabb and Brunner by 540 points with just two tournaments remaining: A Challenge in Stare Jablonki, Poland, and an Elite16 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Even if Budinger and Evans don’t add a single point to their total, Crabb and Brunner still need to win gold in Poland, and then come out of the qualifier in Ostrava and finish fifth or better.

Espinho produced an equally momentous points-boost on the women’s side, to 22-year-old Spaniards Tania Moreno and Daniela Alvarez. Red-shirting from TCU this season to focus on their Olympic pursuit, Moreno and Alvarez are now locks for Paris, having come out of the qualifier to finish fourth, their best points finish of the qualifying period. They are now ranked No. 15 in the Olympic rankings and will join veterans Lili Fernandez and Elsa Baquerizo as the only Spanish women to qualify for an Olympic Games.

Men’s Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings

(updated May 26 after the Espinho Elite16)

1. David Ahman, Jonatan Hellvig, SWEDEN, 12420 (11)
2. Anders Mol, Christian Sorum, NORWAY, 10460 (10)
3. Andre Loyola, George Wanderley, BRAZIL, 10420 (12)
4. Nils Ehlers, Clemens Wickler, GERMANY, 10340 (12)
5. Andy Benesh, Miles Partain, USA, 9580 (12)
6. Evandro Goncalves, Arthur Mariano, BRAZIL, 9260 (12)
7. Michal Bryl, Bartosz Losiak, POLAND,  9200 (12)
8. Ondrej Perusic, David Schweiner, Czech Republic, 8980 (10)
9. Matthew Immers, Steven van de Velde, NETHERLANDS, 8880 (12)
10. Sam Cottafava, Paolo Nicolai, ITALY, 8800 (12)
11. Alex Brouwer, Robert Meeuwsen, NETHERLANDS, 8600 (12)
12. Stefan Boermans, Yorick de Groot, NETHERLANDS, 8460 (11)
13. Cherif Samba, Ahmed Tijan, QATAR, 8420 (12)
14. Chase Budinger, Miles Evans, USA, 8400 (12)
15. Adrian Gavira, Pablo Herrera, SPAIN, 8080 (12)
16. Theo Brunner, Trevor Crabb, USA, 7860 (12)
17. Adrian Carambula, Alex Ranghieri, ITALY, 7840 (12)
18. Thomas Hodges, Zachery Schubert, AUSTRALIA, 7820 (12)
19. Julian Horl, Alex Horst, AUSTRIA, 7260 (12)
20. Pedro Solberg, Guto Carvalhaes, BRAZIL, 7260 (12)
21. Esteban Grimalt, Marco Grimalt, CHILE, 7220 (12)
22. Jorge Alayo, Noslen Diaz, CUBA, 7040 (11)
23. Vitor Felipe, Renato Lima, BRAZIL, 6760 (12)
24. Tri Bourne, Chaim Schalk, USA, 6580 (12)
25. Moritz Pristauz, Robin Seidl, AUSTRIA, 6540 (12)
26. Hendrik Mol, Mathias Berntsen, NORWAY, 6480 (12)
27. Javier Bello, Joaquin Bello, ENGLAND, 6120 (12)
28. Piotr Kantor, Jakub Zdybek, POLAND, 5960 (12)
29. Sam Schachter, Dan Dearing, CANADA, 5900 (12)
30. Daniele Lupo, Enrico Rossi, ITALY, 5720 (12)
31. Paul Burnett, Chris McHugh, AUSTRALIA, 5460 (12)
32. Sergiy Popov, Eduard Reznik, UKRAINE, 5300 (11)

Women’s Beach Volleyball Olympic Rankings

(updated May 26 after Espinho Elite16)

1. Duda Lisboa, Ana Patricia Silva, BRAZIL, 12260 (12)
2. Kristen Nuss, Taryn Kloth, USA, 11960 (12)
3. Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes, USA, 10800 (12)
4. Carolina Salgado, Barbara Seixas, BRAZIL, 10440 (12)
5. Raisa Schoon, Katja Stam, NETHERLANDS, 10380 (12)
6. Nina Brunner, Tanja Huberli, SWITZERLAND, 10320 (12)
7. Melissa Humana-Paredes, Brandie Wilkerson, CANADA, 10220 (12)
8. Xinyi Xia, Chen Xue, CHINA, 9200 (12)
9. Tina Graudina, Anastasija Samoilova, LATVIA, 9000 (12)
10. Valentina Gottardi, Marta Menegatti, ITALY, 8840 (12)
11. Svenja Muller, Cinja Tillman, GERMANY, 8620 (12)
12. Victoria Lopes, Taina Silva, BRAZIL, 8160 (12)
13. Agatha, Rebecca, BRAZIL, 7920 (12)
14. Esmee Bobner, Zoe Verge-Depre, SWITZERLAND, 7900 (12)
15. Daniela Alvarez, Tania Moreno, SPAIN, 7820 (12)
16. Mariafe Artacho, Taliqua Clancy, AUSTRALIA, 7770 (11)
17. Laura Ludwig, Louisa Lippmann, GERMANY, 7580 (12)
18. Anouk Verge-Depre, Joana Mader, SWITZERLAND, 7580 (12)
19. Karla Borger, Sandra Ittlinger, GERMANY, 7360 (12)
20. Lezana Placette, Alexia Richard, FRANCE, 6920 (12)
21. Monika Paulikiene, Aine Raupelyte, LITHUANIA, 6900 (12)
22. Betsi Flint, Julia Scoles, USA, 6740 (11)
23. Sarah Pavan, Molly McBain, CANADA, 6540 (12)
24. Lili Fernandez, Paula Soria, SPAIN, 6480 (12)
25. Andressa Cavalcanti, Vitoria De Souza, BRAZIL, 6240 (12)
26. Dorina Klinger, Ronja Klinger, AUSTRIA, 6220 (12)
27. Niina Ahtiainen, Taru Lahti, FINLAND, 5960 (12)
28. Jagoda Gruszczynska, Ola Wachowicz, POLAND, 5940 (12)
29. Sophie Bukovec, Heather Bansley, CANADA, 5940 (12)
30. Worapeerachayakorn Kongphopsarutawadee, Taravadee Naraphornrapat, THAILAND, 5800 (12)
31. Barbora Hermannova, Marie-Sara Stochlova, CZECH REPUBLIC, 5740 (12)
32. Jie Dong, Fan Wang, CHINA, 5080 (12)

Previous rankings

Olympic beach volleyball rankings, May 6
Olympic volleyball rankings, March 26
Olympic volleyball rankings, March 11
Olympic volleyball rankings, December 18
Olympic volleyball rankings, December 4
Olympic volleyball rankings, November 27
Olympic volleyball rankings, November 20
Olympic volleyball rankings, November 6
Olympic volleyball rankings, October 23
Olympic volleyball rankings, October 16
Olympic volleyball rankings, October 2
Olympic volleyball rankings, August 21
Olympic volleyball rankings, July 31
Olympic rankings, July 25
Olympic beach rankings, July 17
Olympic beach rankings, July 10
Olympic beach rankings, June 19
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, June 5
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, May 1
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, April 17
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, April 10
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, March 28
Olympic beach volleyball rankings, March 20

Things to know about Olympic Beach qualifying:

• To qualify for the Olympic Games via the Olympic rankings, teams use their best 12 finishes throughout the Olympic qualifying period, which ends June 9, 2024. The top 17 from the Olympic rankings will punch their tickets to the Paris Olympics. The remaining seven spots are allotted to five continental cup champions, the winner of the 2023 World Championships, and the French wild card.
• Each country is limited to two teams who can earn a spot in the Olympic Games.
• Teams can never push out good finishes. Once you hit your 12, you only replace your worst finishes. In parentheses below is the number of events each pair has played.
• You earn points as a team. Therefore, if a team breaks up and the individuals select new partners, they begin with zero Olympic ranking points, although they keep their individual entry points to get into events.
• Click here for the full Beach Pro Tour schedule. The next Volleyball World event will be a Challenge in Xiamen, China.