Paris 2024 men’s beach volleyball: Final preview as Germany face Sweden for Olympic title
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 men’s beach volleyball gold medal match is set for Saturday, 10 August at Champ de Mars. There will be a new champion as Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler are set to face Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.
The bronze medal match willl see the Tokyo 2020 gold medallists from Norway, Anders Berntsen Mol and Christian Sandlie Sorum, against the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists from Qatar, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
Expect a repeat of the incredible crowd energy that was on display during the women's final, as the Champs de Mars Stadium fills up for the final beach volleyball party of Paris 2024.
Clemens Wickler and Nils Ehlers of Team Germany celebrate after defeating Team Norway in the men's beach volleyball semi-final
Germany accept the challenge
Germany last won beach volleyball gold at London 2012. But to get to the Paris 2024 final, the pair had to beat the Norwegian defending Olympic champions in the semi-final.
Ehlers and Wickler took down Norway after three sets 21-13, 17-21, 15-13 with the German duo’s successful net-fault challenge ending the Norwegians’ dreams of becoming back-to-back gold medallists.
Ehlers, who is competing in his first Olympic Games, said: “It was a tight game, we had to take the challenge because it’s win or lose.
“I almost have no words. We can go for gold. It’s incredible.”
Wickler, who went out in the quarter-finals at Tokyo 2020, says that this time he never doubted the duo’s ability to win the semi-final and advance to the gold medal match: “We were fighting as a team and that has been the key to our success at the Olympics so far.”
Jonatan Hellvig and David Ahman of Team Sweden celebrate after defeating Team Qatar in the men's beach volleyball Olympic Games Paris 2024 semi-final
Can Sweden get the jump on Germany?
The 22-year-old Swedish jump setters, Ahman and Hellvig, came into Paris as the top seed and their dominating 21-13, 21-17 sweep against Qatar has left no doubt about their ferocity.
The Swedish jump set strategy has been the key to their success. Ahman said: "We’ve been playing like this since we were small kids, developing this game style with our coaches. At first people didn’t think it would work on the world tour but we kept believing in it and then we could prove to them that it actually does work.”
Hellvig said it feels incredible to make it into the final: “I can't quite believe it. It will take some time to realise we made it to the final.”
No matter the outcome in the gold medal match it will be historic for Sweden as it will mark the country’s first Olympic medal in beach volleyball.
Men's beach volleyball medal matchups on Saturday 10 August
Gold: Germany vs. Sweden
Bronze: Qatar vs. Norway