Elite16 - Rio de Janeiro, BRA - 2026

Immaculate Stam & Schoon win first Elite gold in three and a half years!

Carol & Rebecca win home silver in Brazil, Cheng & Kraft complete the podium in Rio de Janeiro

Published 03:35, 03 Aug 2026

Carol /Rebecca (BRA) vs. Stam/Schoon (NED) - Final 1st Place #117714845

Stam & Schoon celebrate their victory after the Rio Elite final

Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands triumphed as gold medalists at the Rio de Janeiro Elite event on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour on Sunday and did so without dropping a single set in the Brazilian sand. It was the first time the former number one team in the FIVB World Ranking topped an Elite-level podium since February 2023, when they won the Doha Elite16. The two-time Olympians have now collected a total of five Beach Pro Tour golds, in addition to six silvers and four bronzes.

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The current world’s number one team and bronze medalists of the Adelaide 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti of Brazil settled for silver in front of the home crowd in Rio. It was the second runner-up finish for the Brazilian duo on the Tour. They also have four gold medals in their collection.

Former world champion Kelly Cheng and her current teammate Megan Kraft of the United States, who have been competing together since the start of the season, completed the Rio podium with bronze, their third medal on the Tour, second consecutive, after the Gstaad Elite silver.

After their silver in Ostrava and bronze in Gstaad, Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon made it to their third Tour podium in a row, this time with the gold medals. Seeded third in the Rio main draw, they swept all seven of their matches in straight sets to conquer the trophy.

In the semifinals, the Dutch duo mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) win over 20^th-seeded French Olympians Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau, who came into the main draw from Wednesday’s qualifications. In the gold medal showdown, Stam & Schoon produced a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) victory over home favorites Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti.

Bracket leaders Carol & Rebecca also won all six of their matches on the way to the final without dropping a set. They crowned that winning streak with a 2-0 (25-23, 21-16) shutout of sixth-seeded Americans Kelly Cheng & Megan Kraft in the semifinals.

Cheng & Kraft bounced back with an emphatic 2-0 (21-13, 21-9) sweep of the third-place playoff against Vieira & Chamereau to make the podium with bronze.