Australian beach volleyball stars claim gold in final FIV World Tour

Australian Olympians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar have claimed gold this morning at the third and final FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 4-star event at the Cancun Hub.

The bronze medalists of the 2019 World Championship, the Australians had the slimmest of the margins on a hard-fought, three-set battle against Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and secured the title with a 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 16-14) victory.

“It always comes down to our side of the net and our good teamwork,” Clancy said. “We did a great job in coming back, taking a moment and just committing to our game. I’m so proud of Mariafe for the great fight she put up with me at the end.”

It was the perfect end to the three tournament competition for the Australians, after finishing fifth and ninth in the opening two tournaments.

After a long absence from international competition, Clancy and Artacho Del Solar were eager to get back to test their training against the best in the world after earlier this year taking out the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour.

With just over 80 days to go until the Olympic Games, it puts them in a good position leading into Tokyo after three weeks of competition going up against the best sides in the world.

It was a repeat of what they did in 2019, when they won the Chetumal Open, played nearly 400 miles south of Cancun, and return home from Mexico with a gold medal on their bags.

“We love you, Mexico!,” Artacho Del Solar celebrated. “We’ll have great memories of these events. We came here with a goal and even though it didn’t go our way in the first two events, we kept strong, stayed focused and here we are. I’m so happy.”

To catch the full replay click here.