Samba-time on the sand as Brazil seal golden double at FIVB World Tour Finals

Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt produced a volleyball masterclass ©FIVB

Brazil produced a beach volleyball masterclass here today to sweep both the male and female titles at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) World Tour Finals and lay down the gauntlet for the rest of the world ahead of Rio 2016.

All four medal matches today were won by pairs from next year's Olympic host nation, with Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca securing the women's event before world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt were simply superb in claiming the men's spoils.

With Americans Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, who had beaten the Brazilian duo earlier in the week in the group stages, their final opponents, the atmosphere went up a notch as the partisan crowd anticipated a home victory.

But the Brazilians always seemed faster and stronger and the Americans, who had performed heroics in winning their semi-final yesterday, appeared a little flat.

Dalhausser, the Beijing 2008 champion who has been so dominant at the net throughout the week, appeared particularly low on energy as he was outclassed by some sumptuous net play by opposite number Cerutti, who effortlessly combined huge smashes with delicately placed drop-shots.

They immediately took a 5-2 lead and were never pegged back, moving 17-10 ahead before taking the opener 21-13.

The Brazilians overcame a partisan home crowd as well as tough opponents in a fabulous atmosphere in Fort Lauderdale ©Getty Images

More of the same followed in the second set, as the Americans were always kept at arms length as they slipped to a 21-15 loss as the green and yellow fans outchanted those sporting US flags.

“I’m so happy about this,” said Schmidt, whose uncle Oscar is a Brazilian basketball legend.

“I haven’t had such a successful season like this.

"Everything’s special for me right now, I want to try to chill at this moment as much as I can, but on the other hand I’m so excited to try everything again and try to be even better.”

While the men's winners had at least lost early in the week, on the women's side, Antunes and Franca have now won 27-straight international matches, proving too strong for Germany’s European champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst.

In a match lasting 39 minutes, the Brazilians were pushed hard but always had a little bit more than their rivals as they won in straight sets 21-17, 21-18.

Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas were similarly dominant, being awarded the trophy afterwards by FIVB President Ary Graca ©FIVB — Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca were similarly dominant, being awarded the trophy afterwards by FIVB President Ary Graca ©FIVB

It marked their seventh international gold medal this season and 11th since teaming up in July 2014

“We try to take everything point-by-point," said Franca.

"When we scored that last point, we could feel the energy of the crowd.

"We worked so hard, it’s been a long, hard season.

“We can’t wait to celebrate at home in Brazil.”

In the two bronze medal matches, world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas rebounded from their semi-final loss to the Germans yesterday by winning 22-20, 14-21, 15-10 over Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavan of Canada.

On the men's side, their compatriots Pedro Solberg and Evandro Goncalves won 21-19, 21-14 over Dutch opponents Robert Meeuwsen and Alexander Brouwer.

Both gold medal winners shared a $100,000 (£66,000/€90,000) first-place purse - the biggest gold medal prize in FIVB World Tour history since the start of the men’s play in 1987 and women's in 1992.