Bello twins train through cold English winters for Paris 2024 beach volleyball berth

"No, it's not quite Copacabana Beach," smiles British beach volleyball player, Enrique Bello when talking to Olympics.com courtside at Barn Elms Sports Centre earlier this year, "but it's not bad for London in February."

The younger brother of the most dominant force in the sport in Britain, twins Javier and Joaquin, is one fifth of the Bello family who all spend an awful lot of time at the open-air court in southwest London, which regularly reverberates with the sound of aeroplanes landing and taking off from nearby Heathrow Airport.

Dad, Luis, a physical education teacher, is in regular attendance as coach, while mum, Barbara, a lawyer, is team manager, a role that includes organising finances, entering competitions, booking flights, and accommodation around the world.

All this while working full-time.

The boys have trained every day, in all weathers, at the legacy venue of London 2012 since it opened in 2013. Playing on the actual sand from that Games is a reminder every day of their goal – a first appearance by a British men's team in beach volleyball at an Olympic Games.

The boys are getting tantalisingly close.

Despite originally eyeing LA 2028 as their breakthrough Olympic Games, results toward the end of 2023 have put them in contention for Paris 2024, starting 26 July.

"If you asked me if we were going to qualify a year ago, I would have thought it impossible," says Javier, while steely grey clouds billow behind him and the whumps and thumps of Luis taking Joaquin and Enrique through some drills offer an accompanying soundtrack to the interview.

"Realistically, if we push ourselves and we get a couple of good results, we string together some performances, I think we could be in the top spots in the ranking, which will secure us hopefully a spot in the Games," says the 23-year-old.

The 17 highest ranked teams each for men and women, as per the Olympic Ranking – based on the best twelve performances as a team for the period from 1 January 2023 to 9 June 2024 – secure one spot each for their country, with a maximum of two berths per National Olympic Committee (NOC).

Points are secured throughout the season in selected events, with the Bellos, as of 25 March - after a sensational bronze in Brazil at the BPT Challenge Recife and having played only nine qualification events so far - currently sitting in joint-19th place.

"We are going to play pretty much every single tournament that is left between now and Paris," says Joaquin, who is one week off his final exam in his six-year long medical degree. "So, it's like 10 tournaments between now (14 February) and June, so we're going try our best to get as many points as possible and try to qualify."

Their next match is at the Beach ProTour Challenge event in Saquarema, Brazil from 28-31 March, followed in Guadalajara, Mexico from 11-14 April.

Should the ranking pathway not quite pan out, with the last event on 9 June shaking down the final positions, the following week's European Championships will offer a final berth in France for the top nation not already qualified.

By mid-June, the Bello's fate will be known, but what they already know is that the whole family has done everything possible to make it to Paris 2024.

• As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
• Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

Bello family's home from home – the volleyball court

Originally from Madrid, the family relocated to London when Barbara was offered a job when the twins were 10 years old, and Enrique, six.

Such was the family's passion for the sport, with Luis himself a former Spanish pro, that one of the requirements for the family home was easy access to a beach volleyball court, which is how they ended up living in southwest London.

"They didn't have a lot of players at the time, they could not even put a team together," Barbara tells Olympics.com, swaddled in a warm coat. "So, we had to bring Enrique, who was six at the time, into the under-15 team. And of course, everyone was like, what was that kid doing there? I mean, he was like tiny, tiny, tiny, but it was the only way we could put six in the team."

When the twins were 13, they joined the Volleyball England talent pathway, but with minimal financial support from a sport with such a low-profile, and therefore little funding, in the UK.

The family play on a public court, booking around the needs of the general public, and with only one court out of four maintained to the quality required for elite play.

Maintained mostly by the Bello family.

"It is very challenging to come here," says Luis. "First of all, because of the weather, but okay, that's coming with the country, but the facility... we need to spend a lot of time digging with our own spades (to smooth out the sand), among other things. It's a lot of work, that is not the work that you are expecting from athletes or for a coach."

A post from the brothers' Instagram account in January is even more revealing in what the twins "are willing to do", reframes Javier when Olympics.com phrased it as "having to do" – in order to reach their dream.

"We posted a video on our social media of us chipping the ice away from the sand and people started commenting, saying, 'That's crazy. How can you do that?', says Javier, "I think that people don't quite realise that we actually have to do that every day for a lot of months in the year."

The impact of training on frozen sand is tricky, adds Joaquin,"because it's quite cold, especially during the night, the sun freezes (the sand) and that makes it quite hard, and then sometimes if it's cold enough, it doesn't unfreeze in the morning, so it can be quite difficult for the knees."

"It gets really cold, obviously, in London," continues Javier, "especially compared to where all of our opponents and other players on the tour are training, but we're used to it. It's what we've been doing for a long time. It's what we have to do, and it's what we're willing to do as well, for our ultimate goal, which is obviously the Olympics."

• How to qualify for beach volleyball at Paris 2024

Sibling dynamic plays big part

The longevity of Javier and Joaquin's volleyball partnership, which started when they were six years old, is enhanced by the twin dynamic, despite being very different characters, even down to Javier speaking with an English accent while Joaquin maintains a Spanish intonation.

Javier describes Joaquin as "very erratic, in a positive way, though, in the sense that he's always very emotional on the court and he's really pushing himself. And loving, because when it really comes down to it, he does show you a lot of affection. On the court, hugging me and keeping me close to him, sort of carrying the team."

"My brother is strong physically and mentally," adds Joaquin. "I know I can count on him. He's the most determined person you'll ever meet. He is the reason why we are where we are. He's the one that pushes us every single day to train us. It's not our dad. No, it's Javier. And he is stubborn, because he refuses to give up."

Luis concurs.

"It was not me saying, 'I want you playing'," he explains. "No, it was Javier. It was Javier saying, 'Daddy, I want to play that tournament. I want to play against that one. I am better than that one.' So, then we started to train, to train with consistency, and we achieve what we achieve."

Those achievements include winning gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2017 and, a year later, finishing fifth at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, both unprecedented performances for an England beach volleyball team. A fifth place in the European Championships last year gives the boys' hope that the additional qualification opportunity could secure them a ticket to Paris.

"The result that we got in the in the European Championship... and then the results that we got after all that period. Wow. Incredible, incredible. And with the resources that we have with a part-time coach that is a PE teacher, and is doing his best because they are his sons. I am very proud," says a visibly emotional Luis, wiping tears from his eyes, recalling everything the boys have done to get to where they are, not only in the sporting arena, but education, too.

Javier is a politics, philosophy and economics graduate*,* while Joaquin is days away from his final medical degree exam, which he's hoping to pass so that doesn't have to retake it in the period in which they are trying to qualify for Paris.

Such are the demands on a family that place equal importance on academic as well as sporting success.

• Paris 2024 beach volleyball schedule

Bello brothers going all-in for debut Olympic Games at Paris 2024

Right now, Javier and Joaquin can put their studies to one side and go all-in for the competition season in their quest to qualify for Paris, their successful moments so far providing the impetus for the emotional rollercoaster ahead.

The family's best achievement so far, the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games - in which the venue was nicknamed the 'Bellodrome' such was the excitement from the fans - was a moment in time for the family, never to be forgotten.

"I was there at all the games," says law student Enrique. "It was incredible watching them win a medal. The stadium was packed every game from the very first game on Friday, until that medal game on the Sunday, and, yeah, the atmosphere was incredible. I've never seen so many people in England at a volleyball game. It was so loud; it was really engaging."

"It was the best moment ever," smiles Joaquin. "We got a medal in the Youth Commonwealth Games and we really wanted to get one in the seniors because it will be the first one for England. And we had everyone there.

"My mom was actually courtside with my little brother, and my dad... he had to go hide in the play area because he can't watch us, he gets too emotional. But it means everything for us because they're literally the team. Everything that we do just couldn't be possible without them."

"When you're behind the scenes, you see everything that goes on, the sacrifices, the hours, injuries," says Barbara after describing how the boys ran to her courtside in Birmingham, to hug her, something of a family tradition, win or lose. "There's a lot of things that people don't see, but I do see it. And I'm a mother as well. And these are my kids, and you see them suffering in a way. So, I think that (moment), that's what they play for."

"First of all, you need to understand that these three sons that I have, they have been watching volleyball their whole life," adds Luis. "When they were small, they were three, four, five, 10 years old we always went to venue at the end of the game to take a photo with the athletes, to touch the sand.

"So I remember the first time I was in Birmingham because I know how important it was for English volleyball and for the whole family of English volleyball. Everybody was encouraging them, and they were representing their country, wow.

"That's why I was not on court when they were playing for the medal, because I cry very easily but it was one of those reasons why we do these things. Because a lot of days, it's very cold, it's not very rewarding, but when you see that they achieve their goals and how hard they work, wow, you are very proud."

"The bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games was for sure our proudest moment so far," says Javier. "Just an unbelievable experience to be playing in front of home fans for the first time. And so many people that came to support us, so many of them watching beach volleyball for the first time. It was just amazing to be able to share our passion for the sport with so many people on TV as well.

"And then obviously, the winning moment when we got bronze, it was just such a flow of emotions between us, our family, all the fans there, the atmosphere was incredible. Honestly, we just hope we can live another moment like that.

"And that's why we're here every day, to keep training, to keep pushing ourselves and hopefully make those moments happen one more time."