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Joaquin Bello

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Joaquin Bello
Joaquin at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Personal information
Full nameJoaquin Bello Fernandez Echevarria
NationalityBritish
Born (2000-07-20) 20 July 2000 (age 24)
Madrid, Spain
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Beach volleyball information
Current teammate
Years Teammate
2016– Javier Bello
Honours
Men's beach volleyball
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham Beach volleyball
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Recife Challenge
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Goa Challenge
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Cortegaça Future
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
Gold medal – first place 2021 Cortegaça
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Nijmegen
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Rubavu
Commonwealth Youth Games
Gold medal – first place 2017 Nassau

Joaquin Bello (born 20 July 2000) is a British beach volleyball player.

Together with his twin brother Javier, they are the current British No. 1 team.[1] They won the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He is a 6-time medallist on the FIVB World Tour, winning Britain’s only gold medal, and a 4-time British champion.

Junior career

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Joaquin and Javier started playing volleyball at the age of 6 at their local club in Madrid. In 2011, their family moved to London and they joined Richmond Volleyball Club, where they won multiple national championships in indoor and beach volleyball in all the underage categories.[2]

In 2016, the brothers started their international beach volleyball career and earned their first England cap at the U17 NEVZA Beach Volleyball Championships, eventually taking the gold medal.[3][4]

Beach volleyball made its Commonwealth Games debut in the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Nassau, Bahamas. There, the duo won gold, helping England to top the medal table.[5]

Whilst in the middle of their A-levels, the Bello brothers qualified for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, making them the first ever British team to qualify for this competition.[6][7] They clinched the 5th and last European spot for the Games by beating Hungary in the last playoff match.[8] Representing Team GB for their first time,[9] the brothers lost in the quarterfinal against host country Argentina, ending up in 5th place.[10][11]

They finished in 5th place at the U19 World Championships in Nanjing, China - Britain’s highest ever finish at any world junior event.[5]

Senior career

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Joaquin played his first World Tour event in Aydin, Turkey in 2017.[12]

In 2019, the twins won a bronze medal in Rubavu, Rwanda after being defeated by the eventual champions Japan in the semifinal. It was the first ever World Tour medal for a British men’s team.[13][14]

In 2021, they won their first World Tour gold medal in Cortegaça, Portugal, the first in British history.[15][16][17] They followed that with another medal, a bronze at the World Tour event in Nijmegen.[18]

In 2022, the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour (BPT) replaced the FIVB World Tour and the Bello brothers won another bronze medal in Cortegaça, Portugal.[12]

With his brother, he achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 23 in May 2024.[19]

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the brothers competed for Team England at the Smithfield arena, later nicknamed the "Bellodrome”.[20][21] They achieved a historic bronze medal, the first for England at the Commonwealth Games, just 5 years on from their triumph at the Commonwealth Youth Games.[22][23][24]

In 2023, the team reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship in Vienna, defeating former world champions Brouwer/ Meeuwsen (NED).[25] They followed it up with a bronze medal in the BPT Challenge in Goa, India.[26]

In 2024, the Bello's won yet another bronze at the BPT Challenge in Recife, Brasil.[27]

Joaquin has won 4 consecutive British Championship titles, winning the UK Beach Tour Finals in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.[28][29][30][31]

Personal life

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After moving to London in 2011, Joaquin attended Gunnersbury Catholic School in Brentford, London.[2][3][32]

The brothers train in Barnes[33] and are coached by their father Luis Bello, a former professional player and coach.[5][6] Beach volleyball is a full family affair with their mum coordinating their support team and their younger brother following on their footsteps in 2023 with a bronze medal in the BPT Futures in Bujumbura, Burundi.[34][35]

Joaquin is currently studying Medicine at Imperial College School of Medicine.[34][35]

References

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  1. ^ "FIVB World Ranking - Men". FIVB. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cumber, Robert (11 August 2016). "Volleyball twins net coveted place at School Games". MyLondon. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Lucy, Dyer (19 April 2017). "Isleworth's Javier Bello keeps Youth Commonwealth Games in sight after financial boost". South West Londoner. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ Rijvers, David (24 July 2016). "Bellos wins Englands first ever Junior Beach Volleyball NEVZA gold medal". Richmond Volleyball. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Garside, Kevin (11 June 2019). "Meet the Bello brothers: the twins looking to put beach volleyball on the map in England". iNews. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b Le Roux, Adam (5 October 2018). "Joaquin & Javier Bello: The beach volleyball brothers aiming for Youth Olympic gold in Buenos Aires". Sports Gazette. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Bahamas to Buenos Aires for Bello brothers". Team England. 5 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Bello boys seal Youth Olympic Games spot". Volleyball England. 11 June 2018. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  9. ^ "British twins hope for beach volleyball glory". Olympics.org. 6 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Bello brothers balance intense year on and off the beach". TASS. 1 November 2018. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  11. ^ "The end of the journey: Bello brothers in Buenos Aires". Volleyball England. 16 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Joaquin Bello". FIVB. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  13. ^ "World Tour bronzes for England's beach stars". British Volleyball. 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  14. ^ "'Bello brothers' encourage exercise at home during lockdown". Hounslow Herald. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Brilliant Bellos achieve British best on World Tour". Volleyball England. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Bello brothers record historic beach volleyball victory". Team England. 18 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  17. ^ "English and Kiwi teams claim historic gold medals in Cortegaça". CEV. 15 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Brilliant bronze for Team Bello". Volleyball England. 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  19. ^ "FIVB World Ranking ARCHIVE - 06/11/2023". Internet Archive. 9 November 2023. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ Alderman, Elgan (6 August 2022). "Commonwealth Games: English beach volleyball duo eye golden sands". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Commonwealth Games Beach Volleyball | Team England". Team England. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  22. ^ Charlesworth, David (7 August 2022). "Bello twins set sights on Olympic bid after historic beach volleyball bronze". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Beach volleyball bronze for Bello twins". The Times. 8 August 2022. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Bello brothers bag brilliant bronze". Team England. 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  25. ^ Alex, Seftel (9 October 2023). "Javier and Joaquin Bello: Beach volleyball twins target Olympics". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Bellos claim bronze in India". Volleyball England. 23 October 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023.
  27. ^ Gunston, Jo (26 March 2024). "Bello Twins train through cold English winters for Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball Berth". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024.
  28. ^ "UKBT crowns beach champions". Volleyball England. 16 September 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  29. ^ "UKBT GRAND SLAM FINALS 2021!". UK Beach Tour. 14 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  30. ^ "UKBT Bournemouth Grand Slam 2022". UK Beach Tour. 11 September 2022. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Bournemouth stages sizzling Grand Slam Finals". UK Beach Tour. 11 September 2023. Archived from the original on 24 December 2023.
  32. ^ "Volleyball champions of GB !". Gunnersbury. 15 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Javier Bello fully focused on the future, Birmingham 2022 and beyond". Team England. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  34. ^ a b "Dreaming of the Olympics". Holloway Express. 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  35. ^ a b Ferraro, Federico (14 July 2022). "Getting to know – England's Bello brothers". CEV. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
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