British pair to grace Horse Guards Parade

Beach volleyball: Steve Grotowski and John Garcia-Thompson will make history at 4.30pm today when they take on Canada to become the first British men’s team to contest the event since its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Crowds of 15,000 are expected to descend on Horse Guards Parade’s centre court over 13 days of competition to a venue widely considered to be the biggest and best the sport has ever graced.

Grotowski, who was born in London before growing up Florida where he first started playing the sport, said: “I think it’s going to be amazing to play at a home Olympic Games, in front of that many people cheering you on. I can’t imagine how loud it’s going to be.”