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Gold Medallist reveals her favourites to win the Beach Volleyball World Championships
SEN • November 16th, 2025 2:47 pm
Just how powerful is a home crowd?
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Australian beach volleyball star Kerri Pottharst, alongside five-time Olympian Natalie Cook, rode the energy of the home fans all the way to a triumphant gold medal, defeating Brazilian powerhouses Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar.
The win at Bondi was just the pair’s second win over the Brazilians in 17 matchups, securing a 2-0 win in front of 10,000 loyal Australian fans.
Now a Sport Australia Hall of Famer, Pottharst looked back on the power of the home crowd, and its influence on their venture for gold.
“Some people love to orchestrate it,” Pottharst told SEN SA.
“Natalie Cook, who I won the gold medal with – she was the orchestrator of the crowd.
“After a point, hands in the air, waving her hands, ‘come on, louder!’ For myself, I’d be able to find anything anyone dropped in the sand, because I had my head down - I didn’t know where my family was sitting!
“It can be different for different players, and you’ve got to know what works for you. The other thing is, it can either make you play really well, or it can make you play really badly.
“We nearly lost our first game at the Olympics because we were so frightened of letting down the crowd. 10,000 people cheering for us was really loud, but when we lost a point, they felt sorry for us.
“It was like a roller-coaster, but we got used to it by the end.”
The Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide mark the biggest beach volleyball event in Australia since Pottharst and Cook claimed gold, with tickets selling for as little as $10 to join the raucous home crowd in South Australia!
Looking into the current climate of Beach Volleyball this year, Pottharst explained that there isn’t a single standout favourite from either the Men’s or Women’s competition.
“It’s really hard,” Pottharst said.
“Honestly, you could probably pick five or six favourites in the Men’s.
“I like Qatar – I like them because they’ve won the most gold medals consistently this year on the world tour.
“Then obviously you’ve got Norway and Sweden – they are the two top men that have pretty much dominated the sport.
“Then you’ve got teams that have won individual ones here and there that can just poke their heads out. They get a good pathway that keeps them away from some of the real danger seeds and all of a sudden, they find themselves in the final.
“The Women’s side, I think the American women are actually coming through where they have not been as strong in previous world champs and Olympics.
“Although, they did win the last world champs, so I think the American women have two or three squads that can come through.
“Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher, they’ve been consistent. Kelly Cheng, defending world champion and her new partner Molly Shaw – they’ve been really great. And there’s the new American team coming through, Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft again.
“But you’ve got Brazilians, you’ve got Germans, the Czech’s are playing well – you can pick another five or six.
“There’s no one team that has dominated the last 12 months on either side.”
The The 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships are well underway, so don't miss out! Get your tickets here!
