The Olympic ranking qualification deadline has been extended to June 13, 2021 (from June 14, 2020), as well as extending the Continental Cup qualification deadline to June 27, 2021 (from June 28, 2020).

The announcement alleviates a degree of uncertainty, as beach volleyball athletes now know the end date of the qualification period, which has been extended one year. The postponement has created the longest Olympic qualification period in history, which started June 1, 2018.

Since every event from this April through June has been either canceled or postponed, many events of significance remain in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Beach Major Series has canceled Rome, Gstaad, Vienna, and Hamburg, with no three-, four-, or five-star events currently listed on the schedule.

The changes affect two types of Olympic qualifiers: Teams subject to country quota (historically the United States, Brazil, and to a lesser extent Germany), and teams on the bubble of the top 15 in the Olympic provisional rankings.

Depending upon the world’s recovery from the Coronavirus, teams may be able to take advantage of postponed events as well as a full schedule in March through June.