There can't be a conversation about legends in the sport of beach volleyball without including Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos. The 2004 Olympic gold medalists collected 58 podium placements as partners and won 44 titles.
Emanuel and Ricardo partnered for the first time in 2002, and they won two bronze medals that year. As they got more comfortable as partners their finishes continued to improve and they won five gold medals in 2003, including the World Championship, and six titles prior to the Athens Games in 2004.
In Athens, Ricardo, then 29, and Emanuel, then 31, went 3-0 in pool play, including defeating top American team Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger in straight sets. They played their closest match of the tournament in the semifinals versus Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel of Switzerland. The Brazilian's won the first set 21-14, but Heuscher and Kobel rallied back to win the second 21-19. In the third, Ricardo and Emanuel prevailed 15-12.
The final pitted Ricardo and Emanuel against Spaniards Pablo Herrera and Javier Bosmo. (Side note: Herrera is still competing at the highest level and will represent Spain in Rio, his fourth Olympics.) Ricardo had played in the 2000 gold medal match with Ze Marco de Melo against Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, but it was Emanuel's first Olympic final.
"In my vision, what I wanted was to have control of the game as quick as possible," Emanuel said in an interview on the IOC's YouTube channel.
They did just that, taking the first set 21-16 and following up with a 21-15 victory in the second. A calm Ricardo hit a smooth roll shot to secure the match for Brazil.
Emanuel and Ricardo won bronze at the Beijing Olympics and continued playing together until mid-way through the 2009 season. After they split, Ricardo went to the London Olympics with Pedro Cunha, finishing fifth, and Emanuel won silver with Alison Cerutti.
When Alison formed a partnership with Bruno Oscar Schmidt in 2014, Ricardo and Emanuel became a team again and played the last event of 2014 and all of 2015 together. They reached the podium only once, taking silver in the first tournament of the reformed partnership.
Emanuel retired earlier this year. He holds the record for FIVB titles with 75 and is the only men's beach volleyball player to have competing in five Olympics.
Ricardo, who is now 41, still competes on the FIVB and is currently playing with Andre Loyola.
Get to know all the beach volleyball gold medalists profiled so far in our "Gold Medal Memories" series, which will run every Thursday until the start of the Rio Olympics:
Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes
Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires
Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana
Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst
Emanuel and Ricardo partnered for the first time in 2002, and they won two bronze medals that year. As they got more comfortable as partners their finishes continued to improve and they won five gold medals in 2003, including the World Championship, and six titles prior to the Athens Games in 2004.
In Athens, Ricardo, then 29, and Emanuel, then 31, went 3-0 in pool play, including defeating top American team Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger in straight sets. They played their closest match of the tournament in the semifinals versus Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel of Switzerland. The Brazilian's won the first set 21-14, but Heuscher and Kobel rallied back to win the second 21-19. In the third, Ricardo and Emanuel prevailed 15-12.
The final pitted Ricardo and Emanuel against Spaniards Pablo Herrera and Javier Bosmo. (Side note: Herrera is still competing at the highest level and will represent Spain in Rio, his fourth Olympics.) Ricardo had played in the 2000 gold medal match with Ze Marco de Melo against Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, but it was Emanuel's first Olympic final.
"In my vision, what I wanted was to have control of the game as quick as possible," Emanuel said in an interview on the IOC's YouTube channel.
They did just that, taking the first set 21-16 and following up with a 21-15 victory in the second. A calm Ricardo hit a smooth roll shot to secure the match for Brazil.
Emanuel and Ricardo won bronze at the Beijing Olympics and continued playing together until mid-way through the 2009 season. After they split, Ricardo went to the London Olympics with Pedro Cunha, finishing fifth, and Emanuel won silver with Alison Cerutti.
When Alison formed a partnership with Bruno Oscar Schmidt in 2014, Ricardo and Emanuel became a team again and played the last event of 2014 and all of 2015 together. They reached the podium only once, taking silver in the first tournament of the reformed partnership.
Emanuel retired earlier this year. He holds the record for FIVB titles with 75 and is the only men's beach volleyball player to have competing in five Olympics.
Ricardo, who is now 41, still competes on the FIVB and is currently playing with Andre Loyola.
Get to know all the beach volleyball gold medalists profiled so far in our "Gold Medal Memories" series, which will run every Thursday until the start of the Rio Olympics:
Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes
Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires
Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana
Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst