By Steve Keating
TORONTO, July 21 (Reuters) - Winning Pan American Games
medals in a soccer stadium car park was still a thrill for
Brazilian beach volleyballers on Tuesday but the dream of
playing at next year's Rio Olympics on the sacred sands of
Copacabana remains the ultimate goal.
The atmosphere inside the temporary arena pulsated with a
beach volleyball vibe but competing beside the home of Major
League Soccer's Toronto FC hardly comes close to matching the
breathtaking backdrop seen at the sport's spiritual home.
In a year's time, BMO Field will be replaced by Sugar Loaf
mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer will gaze down
upon the Olympic action as waves crash onto one of the world's
most famous beaches.
"It means my dream, my dream to be in the Olympic Games and
if we can play on Copacabana it would be the biggest dream of my
life," Lili Maestrini told Reuters after she and partner
Carolina Horta beat Canada in the bronze medal game.
"It is like this crowd always full and they cheer for every
team with their heart. It is one of the best places to practise
and play."
If the sport did not instantly spring to mind at the mere
mention of Rio de Janeiro, amble along the Copacabana boardwalk
on any given day and you will see plenty of fit and tanned young
people enjoying games of beach volleyball.
The compatriots of those seaside sportsmen and women have
returned home from every Pan Am Games with beach volleyball
medals and no country has won more Olympic medals in the sport
than Brazil.
However, there was no gold for Brazil in Toronto as Mexico's
Juan Virgen and Rodolfo Ontiveros upset Vitor Aruajo and Alvaro
Magliano in the men's final to deny the 2016 Olympic hosts a
third straight title, while the women had to settle for bronze.
"We tried today to play with our heart and with big emotions
like how Brazilians play every time," Maestrini lamented. "We
are a good team, we are growing."
The Copacabana mystique is not lost on the young Canadian
duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke, who plan on
hitting the Brazilian beach next summer.
"I really want to be able to go to Copacabana and represent
Canada there because that is the home of the sport I love, it is
the birthplace of it and people their appreciate it so much,"
Humana-Paredes said.
"They love it," she added.
"It will be a different environment from here. Here a lot of
people have never really seen beach volleyball or appreciated it
and this was their opportunity to appreciate the beauty and
atmosphere and experience an amazing sport."
(Editing by John O'Brien)