Thursday night the Brazilian tandem of Alison and Bruno Schmidt will look to win gold, as they take on Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in the gold medal match. Alison took silver four years ago with then-partner Emanuel Rego, and Bruno Schmidt has yet to win an Olympic medal. The same can be said for the Italians, who are guaranteed of winning their country’s first-ever beach volleyball Olympic medal.
WATCH LIVE: Men’s beach volleyball, bronze and gold medal matches -- 9 p.m. Eastern
The bronze medal match between Russia’s Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov, and Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands. Like Nicolai and Lupo, neither of these nations has ever won a medal in men’s beach volleyball. Four years ago, the Dutch team of Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil lost in the bronze medal match, and no Russian team has managed to progress as far as Krasilnikov and Semenov have in Rio.
