Chase Budinger & Miles Evans overtook compatriots Trevor Crabb & Theodore Brunner in the provisional Olympic Ranking and took a hold of one of USA’s qualifying spots for Paris 2024 as the chart received its weekly update on Monday. The reason: Budinger & Evans triumphed as NORCECA continental champions last Tuesday, an important step that gave them the edge in the domestic race for Olympic tickets. Meanwhile, Chile’s Marco Grimalt & Esteban Grimalt also celebrated the continental title in South America to widen the gap from the closest contenders for their spot under the Eiffel Tower.

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking and provisional Olympic Ranking – Men

The NORCECA Continental Tour Finals took place in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic from May 12 to 14 and it marked Evans & Budinger’s first-ever appearance on the Tour as a team. In the men’s final, they shut out Canada’s Samuel Schachter & Daniel Dearing and picked up 800 points towards the Olympic Ranking, net-gaining 340 to improve to a total score of 8,100, or 240 points above Crabb & Brunner. Budinger & Evans surpassed not only their compatriots, but also several other teams on the way up in the general ranking – Italy’s Adrian Carambula & Alex Ranghieri, Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan and Spain’s Pablo Herrera & Adrian Gavira. Meanwhile, Schachter & Dearing’s silver was a repeat of their result in last year’s Finals, so they did not gain points to climb any closer to the cut-off line for Paris.

Defending NORCECA champions Noslen Diaz & Jorge Alayo of Cuba took the continental bronze this time and did not improve their Olympic Ranking either, remaining as the highest-ranked candidate outside the qualification zone.

The Grimalt cousins, the lowest-ranked team above the red line, took advantage of the situation to widen the gap to the Cubans after snatching the continental title in South America. The CSV South American Tour Finals were held in Uberlandia, Brazil from May 9 to 11 and the Chileans celebrated on top of the men’s podium after sweeping the gold medal showdown against Brazil’s Evandro Oliveira & Arthur Mariano. That gold also came with 800 points, of which Grimalt & Grimalt netted just 40, a small amount that could still prove vital in the heated race for Olympic berths. It not only increased the distance from the Cubans to 220 points, but also leveled the Grimalts’ score with the one of the team just above them in the chart, Austria’s Julian Horl & Alexander Horst.

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking and provisional Olympic Ranking – Women

The continental finals in the Americas did not have as much impact on the women’s race towards Paris.

The continental titles were won by USA’s Chloe Loreen & Molly Shaw and Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk & Rebecca Cavalcanti, both well behind their compatriots in the provisional Olympic Ranking. This applies to South America’s runners-up Taina Bigi & Victoria Lopes too.

The NORCECA silver that Canada’s Sarah Pavan & Molly McBain claimed in the Dominican Republic did not improve their Olympic score. They are still the last team above the cut-off, standing just 60 points above the next best contender, Spain’s Liliana Fernаndez & Paula Soria.

As the deadline for Paris 2024 qualification through the Olympic Ranking closes in, there are three major tournaments on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour left that could impact the heated race for quotas. The Espinho Elite16 in Portugal takes place this week, and Poland hosts the Stare Jablonki Challenge next week, before the Ostrava Elite16 in Czechia from June 5 to 9 finalizes the qualifiers.

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