LA28 BOUND – MEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALLERS SECURE LA OLYMPIC GAMES QUOTA SPOT
The Aussie men’s beach volleyball teams have guaranteed Australia an Olympic Games quota spot for LA28, after both advancing to today’s gold medal final of the 2026 AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Championships in Shangluo, China.
Paris team mates Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher will take on fellow Paris Olympian Tom Hodges and new partner Ben Hood in an all Australian final – guaranteeing Australia a LA28 quota post.
The Asian Championships is the first opportunity for beach volleyballers to qualify quotas for the LA Games, the new qualification system introduced following Paris 2024, which sees the first spots offered at Continental Championships.
One quota place per gender is allocated to the nation that wins gold at the Continental Championships, with the remaining quota spots to be earnt at the 2027 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships (1 per gender), Olympic Rankings (14 per gender) and the Olympic Qualifier Series (3 per gender).
Also in contention for a LA28 Olympic quota spot today will be Australia’s remaining female side, three time Olympian Taliqua Clancy and new team mate Stefie Fejes who take on China’s Yan X & X. Y. Xia.
Paris Olympian Izac Carracher together with Mark Nicolaidis staged a stunning come from behind overnight to take the win over a favoured Qatar in the semi final.
After Hodges & Hood won their semi final, Carracher said they had to back themselves to put Australia in the box seat for a LA28 spot.
“Obviously, having an all Aussie final, and locking in an Australian Olympic spot in 2026 is an unbelievable feat for the federation. We have a huge amount of belief in what we are building in Australia.
“Qatar was always going to be the major obstacle en route to that goal, we are just glad we had the opportunity to take them on and get the job done. Now another job starts for us [for the final].
“We knew coming into the match that Qatar were going to make some great plays. They’re one of the best teams in the world for an extended period of time, and that’s what the best do, so scoreboard pressure was always going to be a factor. They got the early jump on us getting that first set and putting a gap on us in the second, but we know we’re capable of being composed in the biggest moments.
“Fighting is the easy part, we back each other to the hills in those moments and we’re never going to give up. Trusting our structures in those moments is ultimately what got it done for us today, and that’s a really positive thing we’ll take into the final and beyond,” said Carracher.
2026 AVC Beach Volleyball Continental Championships continue tonight – watch live https://www.youtube.com/live/psx72dEDxsM?si=csTTFIlbr8UD17Ez
9:30pm AEST – Men’s Gold Medal Match
Mark Nicolaidis & Izac Carracher (AUS) vs Tom Hodges & Ben Hood (AUS)
10:30pm AEST – Women’s Gold Medal Match
Taliqua Clancy & Stefie Fejes (AUS) vs Yan Xu and Xia Xinyi (CHN)
