Vienna and beach volleyball

2017: World Championships on Danube Island

Vienna's young history as a beach volleyball mecca began in 2017, when the Beach Majors Company was responsible for organizing the impressive Beach Volleyball World Championships, where almost 200,000 fans transformed Danube Island into a gigantic beach party for 10 days. In addition to the action on Center Court, the audience was entertained from dawn to dusk by a variety of other attractions, our Beach Village and our unforgettable side events.

The women's gold medal went to German beach legends Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst, who had just won gold at the Olympics in Rio the year before as well as the European Championships in Klagenfurt the year before that. In the men's competition, the Brazilian duo Evandro/André Loyola topped the podium, making 22-year-old André Loyola the youngest beach volleyball world champion in the history of the tournament. The silver medal went to the domestic duo Doppler/Horst, whose success once again confirmed Austria's position in international beach volleyball.

2018: DEBUT OF THE VIENNA MAJOR

After the huge success of the World Championships in the previous summer, Vienna once again welcomed the best beach stars from all over the world. As in the previous year, the venue was Danube Island, where athletes, guests and fans were guaranteed goosebump moments.

After 32 of the world's best teams per gender competed against each other, the Norwegian power duo Mol/Sørum emerged as the clear winners in the men's competition, with last year's runners-up, Doppler/Horst, being defeated in the quarterfinals. It was the third major beach volleyball tournament win in a row for the almost unbeatable Norwegians after the Major in Gstaad and the European Championships in the Netherlands. Another European team, the Czech Sluková/Hermannová, also came out on top in the women's competition and went home with a gold medal.

2019: VIENNA MAJOR CONTINUES

As in the year before, Vienna's Danube Island was once again the venue for the Vienna Major in 2019. In keeping with expectations from previous years, our fans and guests were once again able to enjoy exciting matches, an incredible beach atmosphere and the chance to relax away from Center Court in our unique Beach Village.

As for the tournament, the Norwegians Mol/Sørum won the Beach Volleyball Major title for the second year in a row. In the women's competition, Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who had already won the World Championships in 2019, stood at the top of the podium and won their first medal on Viennese sand. Of the four women's teams that made it through to the semi-finals, they were the only one not from Brazil.

2021: European Championship debuts in Vienna

After a break in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACTS returned to the international sports stage with the A1 CEV European Beach Volleyball Championships 2021 presented by Swatch. The tournament, which was held in the center of Vienna at Heumarkt, was a complete success and showed that top-class sporting events can be held inspite of a pandemic. Although Austria has already hosted the European Championships three times, 2021 was the first time they were held in the capital.

For the third year in a row, the Beach Vikings Mol/Sørum were able to prove themselves in Vienna and won their fourth consecutive European Championship title. With this historic victory, they became the first team to win the title four times. Their impressive collection of gold medals, including one from the Olympic Games, which they won shortly beforehand in Tokyo, definitely makes them one of the top duos on the international beach scene. Swiss beach stars Nina Brunner (née Betschart) and Tanja Hüberli proved themselves in the women's competition. Together, they already won the silver medal at the European Championships in 2018. The title thus goes from one Swiss women's duo to another; the year before, Joana Mäder (née Heidrich) and Anouk Vergé-Dépré took home the title.

2022: Premiere of the Nations Cup

The A1 CEV BeachVolley Nations Cup presented a new highlight in 2022: a completely new tournament format in which, for the first time, countries competed for the European title. For the second time in a row, Heumarkt became a witches' cauldron for beach fans, who cheered on Europe's top players over several days in the Red Bull Beach Arena.

Mol/Sørum once again proved their worth in the men's competition; together with their compatriots Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen, they made Norway the first winners of the newly created tournament. In the women's competition, Switzerland's Hüberli/Brunner, together with Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Menia Bentele, were also able to celebrate yet another success in Vienna.

2023: Back to the Island

After two tournaments at Heumarkt, the next major beach volleyball tournament in Vienna returned to Danube Island. With the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2023, the iconic Viennese location hosted the biggest beach party of the year for the first time since 2019. Despite less than ideal weather conditions, our loyal beach fans were once again captivated and watched with great excitement as the top European beach stars battled it out for the title.

For Norway's Mol/Sørum, it was the first European Championships since 2017 where they failed to make it onto the podium. They were already beaten in the quarterfinals by the Dutch Luini/De Groot, who themselves were ultimately defeated in the final by the Swedish youngsters Åhman/Hellvig. It was their second European Championship title after they emerged victorious at last year's event in Munich. In the women's competition, the Swiss duo Hüberli/Brunner were once again able to celebrate their victory in Vienna, as they did at the A1 CEV BeachVolley Nations Cup the year before, as well as at the 2021 European Championships in Vienna.

2024: Return of the world stars

The A1 Beach Pro Vienna 2024, held from July 9 to 14 at Vienna's Heumarkt, once again brought the international beach volleyball elite to the Austrian capital. After the tournaments in 2021 to 2023, which primarily featured Europe’s top beach stars, this year saw athletes from around the world showcasing their skills.

In the women’s final of the A1 Beach Pro Vienna, which also marked the 33rd birthday of German player Cinja Tillmann, she and her partner Svenja Müller gave themselves the best gift: In just 38 minutes, the duo dominated the match against the Swiss pair Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Mäder with a score of 21:14, 21:18. Bronze went to the American pair Cannon and Kraft, who celebrated joyfully after converting their fourth match point against Agatha and Rebecca.

The grand finale of the tournament was delivered by Norwegian superstars Anders Mol and Christian Sørum, who defeated Poland's Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak in a high-class final with scores of 25:23, 21:12, securing their fifth Vienna title. The Grimalt cousins from Chile claimed the bronze.