Twenty-seven years ago, this week in Chile, Jackie Silva celebrated a birthday a day after winning her first of 12 FIVB gold medals with Sandra Pires in La Serena as the event on the beach at the Pacific Ocean coastal resort marked the first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together for the future Brazilian Olympic and world champions.
With Jackie turning 33 on February 13, 1995, she and Sandra defeated Karolyn Kirby and Deb Richardson a day earlier for the title in the northern Chilean city as the United States also finished third, fourth and tied for fifth in the event that concluded on February 12.
A year earlier in La Serena on February 11, Kirby and Liz Masakayan had topped the Chilean podium by defeating Isabel Salgado and Roseli Timm of Brazil in the finals with Barbra Fontana and Lori Forsythe winning their first of two bronze medals at the Chilean resort.
Three-time American FIVB World Tour gold medal winners Liz Masakayan and Karolyn KirbyWith seven FIVB gold medals decided during the February 7-13 time period, American and Brazilian pairs also topped the other five podiums decided during this week in international beach volleyball history.
Here are the other FIVB winners during the February 7-13 time period:
• February 8, 1998, Lula Barbosa and Adriano Garrido of Brazil won the Vina del Mar Chile Challenger. It was the first of two FIVB wins for the team.
• February 9, 2020, Lauren Fendrick and Sara Hughes of the United States won the Siem Reap Open. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• February 11, 1996, Roberto Lopes and Franco Neto of Brazil won the Rio de Janeiro Open. It was the 11th of 13 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
• February 11, 2017, Saymon Barbosa and Alvaro Filho of Brazil won the Fort Lauderdale Major. It was the first and only FIVB World Tour win for the team.
• February 12, 2017, Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil won the FIVB Fort Lauderdale Major. It was the 11th of 16 FIVB World Tour wins for the team.
Five Olympians celebrate birthdays this week, including newly-elected FIVB Athletes Commission member Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland. The reigning European champion with Joana Heidrich, Vergé-Dépré celebrates her 29th birthday Thursday.
A regular on the World Tour since 2011 with three FIVB gold medals, Vergé-Dépré placed ninth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with Isabelle Forrer after being eliminated by eventual Copacabana winners Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany in two sets.
Joana Heidrich (left) and Anouk Vergé-Dépré celebrate winning the 2020 CEV European ChampionshipsThree-time Summer Games participant and Beijing 2008 silver medal winner Tian Jia of China celebrates her 40th birthday Tuesday. A winner of 32 World Tour medals with six titles in 115 FIVB events, Tian also placed 19th at the Sydney 2000 Olympics with Zhang Jingkun and ninth at the Athens 2004 Summer Games with Wang Fei.
Chinese Tian Jia (right) and Wang Jie celebrate a Beijing 2008 Olympic win in BeijingTwo-time German Olympian Jorg Ahmann, who celebrates his 55th birthday Friday, placed ninth with Axel Hager at the 1996 Olympic where their final two setbacks were to teams that placed on the inaugural podium in Atlanta - Karch Kiraly/Kent Steffes of the United States and John Child/Mark Heese of Canada.
Seeded 15th at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games, Ahmann and Hager surprised the field as the Germans won four of five matches highlighted by a 2-0 sideout win (12-9, 12-6) bronze medal win over 12th-seeded Joao Brenha and Miguel Maia of Portugal.
Jörg Ahmann (left) celebrates a Sydney 2000 Olympic win with German partner Axel HagerJoining Jackie (59) in celebrating birthdays Saturday this week are Brazilian Ana Paula Connelly (49) and Switzerland’s Stefan Kobel (47). Jackie and Sandra validated their Atlanta 1996 Olympic success by winning the 1997 FIVB World Championships in Los Angeles.
Ana Paula placed fifth at both the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Summer Games with Sandra and Larissa Franca, respectively. In Beijing, she replaced Juliana Felisberta as Larissa Franca's partners a few days before the start of the competition in the 2008 Olympics.
An indoor bronze medal winner at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics for Brazil after placing fourth in 1992, Ana Paula played her first full season on the World Tour with Jackie. After her beach debut in 1999, Ana Paula amassed 11 World tour gold medals with five different partners - Monica Rodrigues (1), Sandra (5), Shaylyn Bede (1), Leila Barrios (1) and Shelda Bede (3).
Ana Paula Connelly (second from left) with Brazilian players (left to right) Talita Antunes, Shelda Bede, Juliana Felisberta, Maria Antonelli, and Larissa FrancaKobel and Patrick Heuscher claimed the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. After losing a three-set semifinal match to Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos of Brazil, the Swiss pair rebounded with a three-set bronze medal victory of Julien Prosser/Mark Williams of Australia.
A winner of nine gold medals in 86 FIVB events, Kobel claimed eight titles with Heuscher as the pair topped three World Tour and five Challenger/Satellite podiums together. Kobel and Heuscher’s final gold medal win was over Emanuel and Ricardo at a 1996 event in Roseto degli Abruzzi, Italy. The two teams met 14 times on the World Tour with Emanuel and Ricardo holding a 9-5 edge.
Switzerland's Stefan Kobel (second on the right) waves to Hotel Anders' centre court crowd at the end of his final World Tour match in August 2006 with Patrick Heuscher (second from the left) with FIVB Technical Supervisor Sara Seravalli (left) and Stare Jablonki Open Tournament Director Andrzej DowgialloQuick links:
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
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