Medal count: U.S., Brazil still at the top

What started in Brazil in April ended on Sunday in Thailand: the FIVB World Tour. In all, 29 tournaments were played, 15 for the women, 14 for the men.

As usual, Brazil dominated. The nation boasted the top two ranked women's teams in the world and captured a total of 34 medals (10 gold, 10 silver, 14 bronze). That's 39.1 percent of the 87 medals handed out this season.

The U.S., which featured the top men's team in the world, finished second in the medal count, winning 23 total medals (13 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze), or 26.4 percent. Combined, the U.S. and Brazil took 65.5 percent of the podium spots this season on the international tour.

Nothing too surprising here, but these final tallies do indicate the Americans' greater presence at FIVB events this season. Most years, U.S. players made the trip overseas typically only for Grand Slam events, world championships, or early/late-season tournaments that didn't conflict with their domestic tour, the primary focus of most American players.

This year, the U.S.'s AVP Tour constructed its schedule in such a way that its tournaments only rarely conflicted with those of the FIVB Tour, thus allowing the top Americans to play often on both tours. It made for a daunting travel schedule, as some teams didn't have a weekend off for nearly four months. But it gave our best athletes a chance to compete against the best in the world and support the sport at home. Then when the AVP folded, it just freed up the Americans to play even more internationally.

The end result: the U.S. improved its medal count from 2009 and Brazil's dropped, coincidentally both by a count of six. Americans grabbed just 17 medals last summer (when there was one more FIVB tournament, so three more medals available), including only five golds. Their South American foes picked up 40 medals overall, 16 of which were gold.

We bring this up only to stoke the debate of which country is better on the beach. It's an argument that seems to come up every four years during the Olympics, which has produced similar results.

Brazil owns more Olympic beach volleyball medals than any other nation through four Games with nine, while the U.S. has seven. But five of those seven are gold medals, while Brazil can boast of just two gold medals.

So apparently, the theory remains the same: Brazil may produce more elite beach volleyball players, but the U.S. produces the best beach volleyball players.

A breakdown of FIVB medals for U.S. in 2010:
Gold
- Nine for Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser (FIVB record)
- Two for Jen Kessy and April Ross
- One for Kerri Walsh and Nicole Branagh
- One for Casey Jennings and Kevin Wong

Silver
- One for Kessy and Ross
- One for Angie Akers and Tyra Turner
- One for Rogers and Dalhaussser
- One for Matt Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena

Bronze
- Two for Kessy and Ross
- One for Akers and Turner
- One for Misty May-Treanor and Branagh
- One for Rogers and Dalhausser
- One for Fuerbringer and Lucena