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UC Santa Barbara alumnus Eric Fonoimoana and partner Dain Blanton rose above the rankings to win Olympic gold in beach volleyball at the 2020 Sydney Olympics. Fonoimoana sat down with The Big West's Chloe Clark to look back on the journey to the top of the podium and the experience in Australia ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

While playing on the indoor court for the Gauchos from 1988 to 1992, Fonoimoana helped lead UCSB to the 1988 NCAA title match. The native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was named a second-team AVCA All-American in 1992 and was inducted into the UCSB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Professionally, Fonoimoana played for more than 16 years and has entered over 200 tournaments, winning at least one tournament for seven straight years between 1998 and 2004. Fonoimoana won the 1998 King of the Beach tournament and was named the AVP’s Most Valuable Player in 2002 when he and then-partner Dax Holdren won four titles and appeared in six final matches. Fonoimoana ranks in the AVP’s top 10 for all-time tournaments played and has won at least one title in each of the AVP’s major open tournaments, including two Manhattan Beach Open crowns.

At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Fonoimoana and Blanton were not expected to compete for a medal in a field that included several powerful Brazilian teams. After squeaking out a close victory over Norway, Fonoimoana eliminated fellow Americans Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong in the quarterfinals and eked out a victory over Portugal in the semifinals. In the gold medal match they faced the heavily-favored Brazilians and secured a sweeping victory to claim the gold medal. 

“It's one of those dreams come true, just representing your country in the biggest sports event stage there is,” recalled Fonoimoana. “That itself was exciting for my partner Dain and I.

“We were No. 9 going into the Olympics, so no one really expected us to do much and as we kept on going and winning, then our momentum and our confidence got even stronger. Dain and I thought that we could win a medal. We didn't know which one it would be, but if we played well enough and we got on a good little hot streak that we could beat anybody in the world.”

Which is exactly what Fonoimoana and Blanton did on the Sydney sand.  

Beach volleyball competition with the Eiffel Tower as the backdrop is set to take place in Paris, France, beginning on July 27 with the men's medal round on Aug. 10. Two former Big West athletes will try to match Fonoimoana's feat as UCSB grad Miles Evans will take to the sand for Team USA and UC Irvine alumnus Thomas Hodges is set to compete for Australia. Complete beach volleyball schedule >>>