| | Event type

Beach Volleyball, Men

Date	23 – 28 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Atlanta Beach, Jonesboro, Georgia
Participants	48 from 19 countries
Format	Double-elimination tournament.

The controversy over the administration of beach volleyball extended to the sand of the men’s competition in Atlanta. The IOC had recognized the FIVB as the governing body of beach volleyball, although most of the top men professionals played on the AVP Tour. The FIVB ruled that AVP players had to qualify via FIVB events. Originally only two teams per nations were to be allowed, but because of the dispute between the FIVB and AVP, three teams from any country could compete. The #1 seed was the Brazilian team of Lopes and Neto, who would finish only equal ninth. The big story in Atlanta was the two rival American teams from the competing tours. Sinjin Smith (Sinjin is short for his middle name of St. John) and Carl Henkel played on the FIVB tour. The top AVP team consisted of Kent Steffes and Karch Kiraly. Kiraly had led the US to indoor gold medals in 1984 and 1988, and was considered the greatest volleyball player in the world. Originally a beach partner of Sinjin Smith, he and Smith no longer got on well, further inflaming the rivalry. The third US team consisted of Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, who also played on the AVP Tour. The match of the tournament occurred in the quarter-finals between Kiraly/Steffes and Smith/Henkel. Smith and Henkel went ahead 12-8, and had match point at both 14-13 and 15-14. Kiraly and Steffes fought off four match points to win, 17-15. The final came down to the two AVP teams, with Kiraly/Steffes defeating Dodd/Whitmarsh in two sets, 12-5, 12-8.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	Matches Played	Wins	Losses	Points	Sets	Points	Serve Points	Attack Points	Attack Side-Outs	Block Points	Block Side-Outs	Opponent Error Points	Opponent Error Side-Outs
1	United States 1	USA	5	5	0	10	6-0	86-51	11	39	113	16	1	20	30	Gold
	Karch Kiraly		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	3	18	74	9	0	–	–
	Kent Steffes		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	8	21	39	7	1	–	–
2	United States 2	USA	5	4	1	8	4-2	73-62	2	28	138	21	1	22	32	Silver
	Mike Whitmarsh		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	8	78	21	1	–	–
	Mike Dodd		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	20	60	0	0	–	–
3	Canada 1	CAN	8	6	2	12	7-2	111-69	12	53	176	18	8	28	44	Bronze
	John Child		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	4	31	79	8	5	–	–
	Mark Heese		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	8	22	97	10	3	–	–
4	Portugal	POR	9	6	3	12	6-4	123-103	14	57	243	20	4	32	55
	Miguel Maia		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	7	35	108	1	1	–	–
	João Brenha		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	7	22	135	19	3	–	–
=5	Spain 1	ESP	5	3	2	6	3-2	55-47	3	26	119	7	1	19	26
	Javier Bosma		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	6	44	7	1	–	–
	Sixto Jiménez		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	20	75	0	0	–	–
=5	United States 3	USA	4	2	2	4	2-2	58-52	4	21	103	17	1	16	24
	Sinjin Smith		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	10	60	0	0	–	–
	Carl Henkel		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	4	11	43	17	1	–	–
=7	Cuba	CUB	5	3	2	6	3-2	62-50	5	29	100	7	0	21	22
	Francisco Álvarez		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	20	60	0	0	–	–
	Juan Miguel Rossell		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	5	9	40	7	0	–	–
=7	Norway	NOR	5	3	2	6	3-2	64-55	12	23	124	12	2	17	36
	Jan Kvalheim		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	7	10	63	10	1	–	–
	Bjørn Maaseide		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	5	13	61	2	1	–	–
=9	Germany	GER	4	2	2	4	2-2	44-54	5	20	100	7	2	12	38
	Jörg Ahmann		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	15	46	0	0	–	–
	Axel Hager		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	4	5	54	7	2	–	–
=9	Australia	AUS	5	3	2	6	3-2	61-57	6	25	125	9	2	21	24
	Julien Prosser		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	4	18	63	5	0	–	–
	Leo Zahner		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	7	62	4	2	–	–
=9	Brazil 1	BRA	3	1	2	2	1-2	34-35	7	16	94	6	1	5	31
	Franco Neto		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	5	7	59	6	1	–	–
	Roberto Lopes		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	9	35	0	0	–	–
=9	Brazil 2	BRA	3	1	2	2	1-2	36-31	0	18	77	4	0	14	13
	Zé Marco		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	11	50	0	0	–	–
	Emanuel		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	7	27	4	0	–	–
=13	Czech Republic	CZE	4	2	2	4	2-2	44-47	7	17	69	7	0	13	22
	Michal Palinek		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	12	45	0	0	–	–
	Marek Pakosta		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	6	5	24	7	0	–	–
=13	France	FRA	4	2	2	4	2-2	44-50	1	13	95	17	2	13	26
	Christian Penigaud		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	1	38	17	2	–	–
	Jean-Philippe Jodard		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	12	57	0	0	–	–
=13	Italy	ITA	4	2	2	4	2-2	48-46	5	17	76	7	3	19	32
	Andrea Ghiurghi		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	3	9	35	6	2	–	–
	Nicola Grigolo		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	8	41	1	1	–	–
=13	Argentina	ARG	3	1	2	2	1-2	31-35	0	15	59	5	0	11	12
	Esteban Martínez		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	5	45	3	0	–	–
	Martín Conde		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	10	14	2	0	–	–
=17	Spain 2	ESP	2	0	2	–	0-2	19-30	2	5	36	3	0	9	8
	Javi Yuste		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	4	25	0	0	–	–
	Miguel Ángel Martín		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	1	11	3	0	–	–
=17	Indonesia	INA	2	0	2	–	0-2	12-30	5	4	38	1	1	2	11
	Mohamed Nurmufid		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	3	21	0	1	–	–
	Markoji		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	3	1	17	1	0	–	–
=17	Estonia	EST	2	0	2	–	0-2	10-30	1	3	51	1	1	5	11
	Avo Keel		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	1	21	1	1	–	–
	Kaido Kreen		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	2	30	0	0	–	–
=17	Canada 2	CAN	2	0	2	–	0-2	14-30	2	2	43	5	0	5	14
	Ed Drakich		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	0	28	4	0	–	–
	Marc Dunn		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	2	15	1	0	–	–
=17	New Zealand	NZL	2	0	2	–	0-2	16-30	2	3	40	5	1	6	10
	Reid Hamilton		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	2	17	1	0	–	–
	Glenn Hamilton		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	1	23	4	1	–	–
=17	Japan	JPN	2	0	2	–	0-2	20-30	2	5	52	5	0	8	16
	Kazuyuki Takao		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	4	24	4	0	–	–
	Shoji Setoyama		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	2	1	28	1	0	–	–
=17	Sweden	SWE	2	0	2	–	0-2	5-30	0	3	28	0	0	2	11
	Tom Englén		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	0	20	0	0	–	–
	Fredrik Peterson		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	3	8	0	0	–	–
=17	Netherlands	NED	2	0	2	–	0-2	14-30	1	7	37	2	1	4	12
	Michel Everaert		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	1	2	22	0	0	–	–
	Sander Mulder		–	–	–	–	–-–	–-–	0	5	15	2	1	–	–

Round One

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Court 1	Palinek / Pakosta	CZE	15-11	Yuste / Martín	ESP
Match #2	23 Jul	Court 2	Bosma / Jiménez	ESP	15-7	Nurmufid / Markoji	INA
Match #3	23 Jul	Court 1	Penigaud / Jodard	FRA	15-8	Keel / Kreen	EST
Match #4	23 Jul	Court 2	Prosser / Zahner	AUS	15-6	Drakich / Dunn	CAN
Match #5	23 Jul	Court 2	Ghiurghi / Grigolo	ITA	15-8	Hamilton / Hamilton	NZL
Match #6	23 Jul	Court 1	Ahmann / Hager	GER	15-8	Takao / Setoyama	JPN
Match #7	23 Jul	Court 2	Álvarez / Rossell	CUB	15-3	Englén / Peterson	SWE
Match #8	23 Jul	Court 1	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-8	Everaert / Mulder	NED

Round Two

Date	24 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	24 Jul	Court 1	Neto / Lopes	BRA	15-5	Palinek / Pakosta	CZE
Match #2	24 Jul	Court 2	Bosma / Jiménez	ESP	15-1	Child / Heese	CAN
Match #3	24 Jul	Court 2	Zé Marco / Emanuel	BRA	15-1	Penigaud / Jodard	FRA
Match #4	24 Jul	Court 1	Dodd / Whitmarsh	USA	15-10	Prosser / Zahner	AUS
Match #5	24 Jul	Court 1	Kiraly / Steffes	USA	15-7	Ghiurghi / Grigolo	ITA
Match #6	24 Jul	Court 2	Ahmann / Hager	GER	17-16	Kvalheim / Maaseide	NOR
Match #7	24 Jul	Court 2	Álvarez / Rossell	CUB	15-11	Martínez / Conde	ARG
Match #8	24 Jul	Court 1	Smith / Henkel	USA	15-7	Maia / Brenha	POR

Classification Round One

Date	24 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	24 Jul	Court 1	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-8	Yuste / Martín	ESP
Match #2	24 Jul	Court 2	Martínez / Conde	ARG	15-5	Nurmufid / Markoji	INA
Match #3	24 Jul	Court 1	Kvalheim / Maaseide	NOR	15-2	Keel / Kreen	EST
Match #4	24 Jul	Court 2	Ghiurghi / Grigolo	ITA	15-8	Drakich / Dunn	CAN
Match #5	24 Jul	Court 2	Prosser / Zahner	AUS	15-8	Hamilton / Hamilton	NZL
Match #6	24 Jul	Court 1	Penigaud / Jodard	FRA	15-12	Takao / Setoyama	JPN
Match #7	24 Jul	Court 1	Child / Heese	CAN	15-2	Englén / Peterson	SWE
Match #8	24 Jul	Court 2	Palinek / Pakosta	CZE	15-6	Everaert / Mulder	NED

Round Three

Date	25 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	25 Jul	Court 2	Bosma / Jiménez	ESP	15-9	Neto / Lopes	BRA
Match #2	25 Jul	Court 1	Dodd / Whitmarsh	USA	15-9	Zé Marco / Emanuel	BRA
Match #3	25 Jul	Court 1	Kiraly / Steffes	USA	15-5	Ahmann / Hager	GER
Match #4	25 Jul	Court 1	Smith / Henkel	USA	15-13	Álvarez / Rossell	CUB

Classification Round Two

Date	25 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	25 Jul	Court 2	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-5	Martínez / Conde	ARG
Match #2	25 Jul	Court 1	Kvalheim / Maaseide	NOR	15-11	Ghiurghi / Grigolo	ITA
Match #3	25 Jul	Court 1	Prosser / Zahner	AUS	15-13	Penigaud / Jodard	FRA
Match #4	25 Jul	Court 1	Child / Heese	CAN	15-9	Palinek / Pakosta	CZE

Classification Round Three

Date	25 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	25 Jul	Court 1	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-12	Zé Marco / Emanuel	BRA
Match #2	25 Jul	Court 2	Kvalheim / Maaseide	NOR	15-10	Neto / Lopes	BRA
Match #3	25 Jul	Court 2	Álvarez / Rossell	CUB	15-6	Prosser / Zahner	AUS
Match #4	25 Jul	Court 1	Child / Heese	CAN	15-7	Ahmann / Hager	GER

Quarter-Finals

Date	26 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Court 2	Dodd / Whitmarsh	USA	15-6	Bosma / Jiménez	ESP
Match #2	26 Jul	Court 1	Kiraly / Steffes	USA	17-15	Smith / Henkel	USA

Classification Quarter-Finals

Date	26 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Court 1	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-3	Kvalheim / Maaseide	NOR
Match #2	26 Jul	Court 2	Child / Heese	CAN	15-4	Álvarez / Rossell	CUB

Classification Semi-Finals

Date	26 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Court 1	Maia / Brenha	POR	15-13	Smith / Henkel	USA
Match #2	26 Jul	Court 2	Child / Heese	CAN	15-4	Bosma / Jiménez	ESP

Semi-Finals

Date	27 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Court 1	Dodd / Whitmarsh	USA	15-13	Maia / Brenha	POR
Match #2	27 Jul	Court 1	Kiraly / Steffes	USA	15-11	Child / Heese	CAN

Final Round

Date	27 – 28 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitors	NOC	Result	Competitors	NOC
Match 1/2	27 Jul	Court 1	Kiraly / Steffes	USA	12-5, 12-8	Dodd / Whitmarsh	USA
Match 3/4	28 Jul	Court 1	Child / Heese	CAN	12-5, 12-8	Maia / Brenha	POR