Why coronavirus has made the FIVB World Tour event on the Gold Coast a must for Olympic hopefuls

The coronavirus outbreak has made an upcoming Gold Coast event a must for athletes around the globe hoping to make it to the Tokyo Olympics.

THE coronavirus outbreak has made an upcoming Gold Coast volleyball event a must for athletes around the globe hoping to make it to the Tokyo Olympics.

The beach of Coolangatta will form the playing ground for the FIVB World Tour from March 18-22, with crucial qualification points on offer to the athletes for the Olympics.

The tournament has taken on added significance because of coronavirus, which has restricted the number of tournaments to be played in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics.

Three FIVB events have already been cancelled in China.

SA-based beach volleyballers Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe del Solar will take part in the FIVB World Tour event at Coolangatta. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Among the Australians set to compete are world championship bronze medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar.

The World Tour competition will be one of four beach volleyball tournaments taking place at the venue as part of Volleyslam.

Others include the final round of the men’s and women’s Australian Beach Volleyball Triple Crown (March 13-15), Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Championships (March 15-18) and Australian Beach Volleyball Schools Cup (March 20-22).

The Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Championships will feature 123 teams playing 494 matches while the FIVB event will have representatives from 32 countries competing across 90 teams.