Two months after their victory at the Paris 2024 Games, Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil and David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden are set to return to international competition at this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16.

Brazilians and Swedish are the main attractions of the ninth Elite16 event of the season, which will be held on the Brazilian Northeast coast from Wednesday to Sunday.

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After their victory in Paris, Duda and Ana Patrícia took a quick break from training, fulfilling a busy schedule around the country as they received awards and appeared in events.

“We made the decision to rest after the Paris Olympics and returned to training just over two weeks ago,” Ana Patrícia said. “It was great to feel the love of the Brazilian people for us and now we’re ready to get back at doing what we love, which is to play beach volleyball.”

Prior to competing on the João Pessoa Elite16, Duda and Ana Patrícia appeared in an event of the Brazilian Tour held at the same venue and took gold in their first tournament since Paris 2024.

“I’m so happy to get back to playing, which is what we love, and to do it with the support of our home fans,” Duda added. “Our goal now is to make the most of every event we get to play and enjoy them with our families. Brazilians are always very supportive and we’re very humbled by what they’ve been doing for us.”

Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 – Women’s Entry List

In their return, Duda and Ana Patrícia will get to play in a place where they have great memories as the two won last year’s Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in João Pessoa. The two are one of four teams that competed at the Paris Games to be entered at his week’s event, alongside compatriots Bárbara Seixas and Carol Salgado, Lithuanians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte and Canadians Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec.

Åhman and Hellvig want to continue winning streak

The men’s Olympic champions, Åhman and Hellig will also return to the sand for the first time after triumphing in Paris. Like the Brazilians, the Swedish stars also took gold in João Pessoa in 2023 and will try to defend their title.

The Europeans will, in fact, attempt to extend their incredible winning streak in international beach volleyball, which started with a victory at the Tepic Elite16, in April, and continued all the way until Paris, which marked their sixth-straight victory in international events.

Besides the Swedish, four other men’s teams that competed in Paris will be in action this week in João Pessoa – bronze medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sørum of Norway, fourth-placed Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar and the home teams of Andre Loyola/George Wanderley and Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci. Canadian Sam Schachter, who played in the French capital with Dan Dearing, will also be on the court this week, but with Jonathan Pickett.

Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 – Men’s Entry List

The Beach Pro Tour João Pessoa Elite16 starts on Wednesday, with the qualifiers in both genders, which will determine the last four men’s and women’s teams to compete in the main draw.

Pool play will extend from Thursday to Friday, with the elimination matches being held on Saturday and the semifinals and medal matches taking place on Sunday in Brazil.

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