News 07/01/2017 2017 Preview: Vienna gearing up for Beach Volleyball World Championships Lausanne, Switzerland, January 7, 2017 – A highlight of the 2017 beach volleyball calendar, the eleventh edition of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Austria will take place from July 28 to August 6. While Klagenfurt, Austria has hosted 32 FIVB international events, this will be the first FIVB international event held in Vienna, the capital of Austria.With a total of 96 teams (48 in each gender), participants will be competing for a $1 million purse as Austria hosts an FIVB international event for the 19th time for men and 15th time for women. A total of 208 matches will be played to determine the prestigious title of world champions. At the heart of the event will be the state-of-the-art Centre Court, a spectacular stadium on Donauinsel in Vienna. The Vienna Center Court stadium will be surrounded by the FIVB Beach Village offering public viewing and exhibitions for fans. In the evening, the venue will transform into an event area, which will entertain guests with beach party nights and other evening events as part of the FIVB’s commitment to deliver an innovative and engaging entertainment spectacle as well as a sporting event.Quick links - Beach volleyball:FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2017FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 2016Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach VolleyballFIVB.com - Beach VolleyballFIVB.comLatest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia GuidesNot first timeIt will not be the first time Austria has hosted the tournament – Klagenfurt staged the 2001 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships – and it promises to be a wonderful and momentous occasion for the sport at the venue to be set up on Donauinsel.First 10Prior to this year’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Austria, previous world championships have been held in the United States (Los Angeles, 1997), France (Marseille,1999), Austria (Klagenfurt, 2001), Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, 2003), Germany (Berlin, 2005), Switzerland (Gstaad, 2005), Norway (Stavanger, 2009), Italy (Rome, 2011), Poland (Stare Jablonki, 2013) and the Netherlands (The Hague-Amsterdam-Apeldoorn-Rotterdam, 2015).FIVB - AustriaA total of 32 previous FIVB World Tour events have been held in Austria with all being staged in Klagenfurt (18 men’s events, 14 women). In the men’s totals in Austria, Brazil has 26 medals, followed by the USA with nine, Germany with five, Netherlands and Norway with three each, Switzerland with two and with one men’s medal each in Austria are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Italy, Latvia and Russia.After 14 FIVB World Tour women’s events held in Austria through the 2016 event, Brazil leads the medal parade with 18 total medals followed by the USA with 11, Germany with five, China with four, Netherlands and Switzerland with two each and with one women’s medal in Austria are Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine.Little World Championship historyAnchored in The Hague, the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships were held in four cities in the Netherlands - Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Apeldoorn and at the headquarters in The Hague. Winning the men’s gold medal was Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt and capturing the women’s gold medal was Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas.In the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships held in Stare Jablonki, Poland, winning the men’s gold medal was the Dutch duo of Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen while claiming the women’s gold was China’s Chen Xue/Xi Zhang.In 10 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, Brazil leads the men’s gold medal parade with six and the other four countries with one men’s gold medal each are Argentina, Germany, Netherlands and the United States. In women’s gold medals, Brazil has won five gold medals, the United States has won four and China won the other women’s gold.Oh... ViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of Austria's population), and its cultural, economic and political centre. It is the seventh-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The city's roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city, and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks. Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News