A volleyball player chased a well-placed shot to the back corner of the court, kicking up the famous soft sand that lines the beaches of Rio de Janeiro.

Sergio Fortunato watched the action with his arms crossed, observing with the well-trained eye of a retired professional. Suddenly, a roar echoed along Copacabana as 8,900 spectators packed into the Beach Volleyball Arena shout for Brazilian duo Larissa and Talita, who by the end of the afternoon will have defeated a pair of plucky Swiss upstarts in three sets to reach the semi-finals on 16 August.

Larissa points to Talita after a momentous point against the Swiss challengers at the Beach Volleyball Arena on Copacabana Beach (Photo: Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey)

Copacabana is the spiritual home of beach volleyball, a sport played simultaneously outside the arena on dozens of sandy courts as the home-crowd favourites knocked out their European competitors inside the steeply rising stands of the stadium. During the Olympic Games – and every other day of the year – Rio de Janeiro and its beautiful coastline make for one of the sportiest cities in the world, a haven for anyone who wants to work up a sweat by the beach.

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Meanwhile, Fortunato focused on the game in front of him, a four-on-four inter-league match for CT Leme Rio, the beach volleyball club he has run since 1995, which now counts more than 800 members.

Players compete in a beach volleyball club game (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

“They learn the fundamentals in classes and later they compete. Our primary game in Brazil is football but others have been growing considerably,” Fortunato said in Portuguese, listing other sports such as indoor and beach volleyball along with basketball, judo, handball, and boxing. “It’s cultural. It’s also the climate.”

'Not just for kids' 

On a clear day in the Cidade Maravilhosa, the temperature soars to 30 degrees — in winter. And it’s not hard to see signs of the culture, either. Runners stride past pedestrians on the sidewalk or jostle with cyclists and skateboarders in the paved bike lane. On Sundays, the avenue from Ipanema to Leme at the far end of Copacabana shuts to vehicle traffic as thousands of cariocas descend on the nearly seven-kilometre shoreline to spend the day with family and friends. Football goals, volleyball nets and even a set of rugby posts are permanent, as fixed in the landscape as the players who show up everyday to make the most of these public spaces.

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Carioca journalist Juliana Barbassa described in her award-winning book about Rio de Janeiro how satisfying it is to run along Ipanema Beach toward the twinned hills that define the skyline and then return along the same route — by swimming back. Olympic triathletes will come close to this when they compete at and around Fort Copacabana; the men race 18 August and the women 20 August.

The same location hosted the women's marathon swimming event on Monday (15 August) with the men's contest set for Tuesday.

A busker creates giant bubbles to the delight of children (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

Claudia Alves created the Gang dos Patins for inline skaters eight years ago because, she said, "People think it's only for kids, but we love it as adults, too." As many as 80 people come out twice a week to choreograph routines to pop songs and challenge their speedwork skating around tiny cones that look like the take-out espresso cups they hold in their hands. Their emblem is the Looney Toons speeder Road Runner. "We like to go fast," said Alves, "Beep beep!"

Inline skating is a popular sport thanks to the smooth, paved lanes beside Copacabana's mosaic promenade (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

A week before the Rio 2016 opening ceremony, Copacabana hosted a muay thai tournament and spectators crowded around a ring set up on the sand. Down the beach tucked behind the Arpoador Rock, men do chin-ups and dips on metal equipment glossy with years of use. Sleek and shirtless, bodybuilders lift barbells, the concrete weights still imprinted with the shape of the aluminium cans used to make them.

“It’s a very sporty city, especially here in the Zona Sul (South Zone),” said Rodrigo Gelberger, who locked his flip-flops to a sign-post along with his bike, before taking his surf board into the waves.

Rodrigo Gelberger cycles to his preferred surf spots (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

“This city insists you go outside,” said Paulo Almeida during a pause in a game of frescobol, the uniquely seaside sport in which two (or more) players use wooden paddles to hit a small ball, sometimes quite ferociously, between one and other. Known in some places as matkok, the game is more collaborative than competitive and is recognised in the state of Rio de Janeiro with its own day. Come back next year to celebrate on 10 July. 

Wearing black trunks – the iconic Brazilian sunga – that many men the world over wear only under baggier shorts, Almeida revealed another secret about the easy-going and confident carioca sensibility. “People in Rio know how to be comfortable in little clothes. They feel very comfortable showing their body,” he said. “They care about their physical appearance but it’s not only about vanity, it’s also about physical health.”

The city of Rio de Janeiro installed body-weight gym equipment for people to use as a means of free exercise (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

A family that skates together... (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

Rio 2016 beach volleyball: schedule and results

At centre court of the Beach Volleyball Arena, Larissa and Talita stood strong in a thrilling quarter-final against the Swiss after dropping the first set — only the first one they’ve lost this tournament.

Copacabana is “the heart” of Rio de Janeiro said the Olympian. “This is where I started playing volei da praia. For me it’s special to play at this site and in this marvellous stadium.”

A couple poses for a selfie outside the Beach Volleyball Arena at sunset (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

At this beach and beyond, Larissa said Rio 2016 will have a lasting legacy. “The country is living and breathing spot. It’s fantastic not just for this generation but for the next.”

Sports like volleyball, football and a combination of them both called 'futevôlei' are ubiquitous beach sports in Rio de Janeiro (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

Celebrating at the intimate Beach Volleyball Arena in Copacabana, the London 2012 bronze medallist Larissa and her partner Talita are favourites to win gold at Rio 2016 (Photo: Getty Images/Buda Mendes)