Anders Mol and Christian Sørum knew that coming to the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2021 presented by Swatch straight from Tokyo, where they had won the Olympic Games just a few days ago, could go two different ways – they would either be carried by the power of a strong mindset after taking a historic gold or see their bodies collapse due to the nearly unbearable demand of elite level beach volleyball they had to play over the course of the last month.
They did it, as it’s always been the case in Vienna, but their fourth and historic win in Vienna drained every drop of energy from their 24 and 25-year-old bodies. Over the course of four days, the Beach Volley Vikings were pushed to four tie-breakers in their six matches and played a 56-point set against Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo, staying on the court longer than any other team in the tournament at 16 sets.
“This was, for sure, the toughest European title we won,” Mol commented. “We had to refocus after the Olympics and that was really difficult. At the same time we wanted to celebrate our Olympic gold medal, we also wanted to come to Vienna and win our fourth title. We’re really tired now but also so happy we did it, it’s hard to believe. I’m really proud of how we handled all of it and managed to win all these matches.”
The fuel for another Norwegian victory was their desire to break records and set new marks in the sport that follows them since 2018. It might have been their fourth European title and their third-straight victory in Vienna, but as they say on their social media posts, it’s only the beginning.
“When we’re on the court we just want to play our best beach volleyball and win matches,” Sørum explained. “But when you have the opportunity to win four in a row at this level and be the first team to do it, you have to take it. I can’t believe we did it. I’m super proud of how we fought for it. We were behind in the final set but we gav
