Home crowd show their colours on Copacabana beach, cheer Brazil on to victory
The host nation’s quest for glory began with victory on the field of play amid noisy support inside and outside the arena
Beach bleachers: the Copacabana home crowd cheer on the Brazilian pair (Photo: Rio 2016/Miriam Jeske)
The Brazilian beach volleyball team’s objective of topping the medal table started brightly on Saturday morning (6 August). Though playing at one of the city’s most popular tourist spots, Copacabana beach, the noisy crowd were delighted to play their part in ensuring that just this once, the visitors would not be going home happy.
The vocal support wasn’t limited to the crowd inside the Beach Volleyball Arena, either – during the match between Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt against Canadian pair Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter the excitement and vocal support spread well outside the venue.
Lifted by the home crowd, the Brazilian duo strolled to a straighforward two-set victory.
Follow the Rio 2016 beach volleyball competition here
One particularly enthusiastic group of friends from São Paulo state talked to Rio2016.com about their delight at seeing Olympic events in person. Despite turning up in an equestrian-themed outfit, Marília Del Bem enjoyed herself on the sands of Copacabana.
Horseplay: Marília (wearing the horse mask) and friends from São Paulo (Photo: Rio 2016/Rafael Cavalieri)
“It’s marvellous, a historic moment. We’re also going to watch tennis, indoor volleyball and basketball,” she said.
There was no shortage of colourful support inside the stadium, either. Leandro Pereira, Clayton Budin, Suelen Monteiro and Jacqueline Bernardes came equipped with flags, wigs and hats to cheer on Brazil.
“It’s definitely worth it. It’s a unique party. I’ll remember this moment for the next 20 years,” said Suelen, also from São Paulo.
Leandro, Clayton, Suelen and Jacqueline: Brazil’s grassroot support (Photo: Rio 2016/Rafael Cavalieri)
Earlier in the day, the Italian pairing of Adrian Ignacio Carambula Baurich and Alex Ranghieri beat Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst of Austria, also in straight sets.
In the women's event, the Brazilian team of Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixa de Freitas had a tougher time of it. They lost the first set 19-21 to the Czech pairing of Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova before winning the next two.
"We say that the crowd is the third player on the court, that's how it felt today," Agatha said.
"I don't know how to explain how much this energy is important for us. They are like fuel for us," Barbara said.
"There is so much happiness in the air, it is contagious. It is a very intense feeling, it gives us a lot of emotions, it is really moving."
