Beach volleyball at Rio Olympics looks more like rave than sport

Strobe lights flashing, loud music blaring and dancing scantily clad Brazilians partying deep into the night. This isn’t a night cub — it’s beach volleyball at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Consider it Midnight Madness of a different kind.

Beach volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1996, and it has been taken to the next level in Brazil, with many of the matches being played deep into the night at rollicking and renowned Copacabana Beach. The female athletes wear bikinis, the men tank tops along with sunglasses. It’s all part of the spectacle, which has included booing and whistling for Brazilian opponents.

For the first time, the sport’s final match of the day is being played at midnight, as a way to land television ratings from the West Coast.

“It’s a party atmosphere. Especially under the lights. The Brazilians get louder at night, and our fans were amazing tonight,” said American Kerri Walsh Jennings, according to Yahoo Sports, who is a three-time gold medalist and favored to win a fourth with new partner April Ross. “Hopefully people at home were watching. I think that’s why we have the late starts.”

It has forced some adjustments from the athletes. Beach volleyball is supposed to be a daytime sport, played under a hot sun. There are some matches played in the afternoon, but the gold medal match is scheduled for midnight.

“We had a nap earlier in the middle of the day, which is something we don’t normally do before games,” Australian Nicole Laird told reporters. “That was the main adjustment. A midnight game, we hadn’t done it before, but neither had they. It didn’t feel like the middle of the night. I don’t even know what time it is now. It’s exciting. The fact the whole thing is in prime time.”

Laird and Mariafe Artacho del Solar lost to Walsh Jennings and Ross in a match that began at 12:34 a.m. Sunday and finished at 1:30 a.m.

“It didn’t really feel like midnight out there,’’ Artacho del Solar said. “But now it does.’’

Some athletes have complained about the brights lights and loud noise from the party-like atmosphere. Others, though, love the excitement it has brought.

“Six in the morning or 12 at night, I love to play beach volleyball so that’s what I do,” Dutch player Alexander Brouwer told Reuters.

The arena is impressive, rising 70 feet off the sand, with 12,000 seats, one steep row after another, in the temporary metal facility. There are views of the water, and the beautiful beach. It wasn’t easy getting it done, however. There were reports of protests, because of the sport creating extra traffic and parking issues. But it was built anyway, and so far it hasn’t kept fans away, some of them wearing large headdresses, with samba dancers filling up the stadium. Unlike the previous beach volleyball sites, this is played on an actual beach, and the mood is festive, fans stopping at a match before hitting Rio de Janeiro’s club scene.

“This is my third Olympics, and I still got butterflies,” American Jake Gibb said. “This arena was more energy than I was ready for. I think the Brazilian fans are the best in the world.”