The highly anticipated 2012 Beach Volleyball test event, the Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International, ended on a high today with Brazilian pair Lili and Angela Vieira taking the competition title.

Lili and Vieira proved victorious in the final match against Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy, having knocked the second Brazilian team - made up of Taiana Lima and Vivian - into bronze medal position earlier in the day.

Vieira said: 'Everything was really nice. Thank you to everyone who helped. I am thankful for the whole test of the Olympic event. It was pretty good, perfect. I have never been here before and I love London, love everyone and everything. All the countries and are getting better and better and there are no easy games. Even the weakest teams can surprise.'

Ross said: 'I thought both Great Britain teams played really well and I think we can look forward to seeing them keep on improving, they are on the up and up. I think with the home crowd they had that extra motivation. I think we’ll see good things from them in the next couple of tournaments.'

GB pair Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns made it to the bronze medal match but ended their competition in fourth, closely followed by the other Brits Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney in joint fifth.

Twenty four world class teams took part in the competition, which took place from 9 - 14 August. The event has been followed closely from the building of the iconic venue within Horse Guard’s Parade to the arrival of the sand and the first day of the test event.

The close of beach volleyball signalled the end of a flurry of successful test events staged during the past week including sailing, marathon swim, road race and badminton.

David Luckes, Head of Sport Competition said: 'The atmosphere was fantastic throughout the whole week. Athletes, spectators and volunteers all talked about the amazing setting and the great time they all had. We successfully tested the field of play (including the sand), results systems, lighting and sport presentation. Bringing beach volleyball in this format to London is a first for the capital, the fact that it was in this iconic venue added to the appeal.'

Technical Delegate and FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission secretary Vicente Araujo said: 'This week at Horse Guards Parade has been invaluable and a wonderful experience for the FIVB. The Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International has provided the perfect opportunity to test a range of issues and situations which will stand us in good stead come Games time.

'The media and spectator interest has been impressive and of course the spectacular setting of Horse Guards Parade has been inspirational, while the legacy of the sand, which will be used to create new beach volleyball courts, is also very important to us. The response of the athletes concerning the event has been very encouraging and thanks to the great crowd support, they have had a glimpse of what it will be like next year. Of course there are some areas where will continue to liaise and fine tune with LOCOG but now after this extremely successful week we can focus on London 2012 with great confidence.'

Colin Grannell, head of partnership marketing at Visa Europe, said: 'We're delighted to have been title sponsor of this fantastic event. The setting, the players and the audience all contributed to an amazing atmosphere. For Visa, this was an incredibly successful event - all Visa payments were processed quickly ensuring people didn't miss any of the action on field and as title sponsor, we were able to be right at the heart of the action.'

Mark Wasilewski, Park Manager for St James’s Park and Green Park, The Royal Parks, said: 'Horse Guards Parade in St James's Park has been transformed into a spectacular venue for the Beach Volleyball test events that will take place this week. The Royal Parks has been working closely with LOCOG and we’re really pleased with how plans have progressed. This historic location within St James’s Park has hosted a wide range of events – including a yearlong European jousting contest in the 16th century – however I think that in 2012 this location is going to be one of the most memorable.'

- Ends –

Notes to editors:

LOCOG’s detailed testing programme, which is branded the ‘London Prepares’ series, will see some world class sporting events with athletes competing in London’s iconic existing venues as well as brand new venues in the Olympic Park.

LOCOG’s testing programme will focus on testing the sporting field of play; results, timing and scoring systems; how teams work together and how people move around venues. The Visa Beach Volleyball event will also test how LOCOG can deliver temporary infrastructure within certain timelines.

As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-four domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Ticketmaster and Trebor.

There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one domestic Tier Three Paralympic Supplier, Otto Bock.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.

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