Beach volleyball the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) was founded. At the professional level, the sport remained fairly obscure until the 1980s when beach volleyball experienced a surge in popularity with high-profile players such as Sinjin Smith, Randy Stoklos, and Karch Kiraly. Kiraly won an Olympic gold medal in beach volleyball in its first Olympic appearance in 1996, adding that to the two Olympic golds he won as part of the USA men's indoor team, and has won 142 titles. In the 1980s, the sport gained popularity on the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1986, the
Beach volleyball team Karin and Nina playing professional beach volleyball in 2004 and has since then been Swedish champion five times (2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012), won the Swedish Beach Tour eight times (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012) and been named Sweden's player of the year six times (2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). Karin played professional beach volleyball in Brazil fall 2009 until spring 2013. She was ranked top 5 as her best ranking in Brazil and got a 3rd place as her best result in Salvador 2012. In 2013 she teamed up with a Swedish player to pursue her dream of