---
title: "Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, the Icemen, Sweden, ruling the beach volleyball world rankings; Youngest-ever No.1 pair"
sdDatePublished: "2026-08-07T13:14:00Z"
source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/beach-volleyball-jacob-hoelting-nilsson-elmer-andersson-icemen-exclusive"
topics:
  - name: "sport"
    identifier: "medtop:15000000"
  - name: "beach volleyball"
    identifier: "medtop:20001090"
  - name: "Olympic Games"
    identifier: "medtop:20001177"
locations:
  - "Los Angeles"
  - "Stockholm"
  - "Adelaide"
  - "Poland"
  - "Switzerland"
  - "Sweden"
---


Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, the Icemen, Sweden, ruling the beach volleyball world rankings; Youngest-ever No.1 pair

Beach volleyball: Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, ‘the Icemen’ ruling at the top of the field

Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, ‘the Icemen’ ruling the beach volleyball world

The young Swedish duo sit down with Olympics.com to recount their rapid rise to the top of the world rankings, and how they acquired their unique team nickname.

The 2025 men’s beach volleyball World Championship final had a distinctly Swedish feel.

In an historic gold medal match in Adelaide, David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig , the reigning Olympic champions, took on their Swedish counterparts, Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson .

It was the experienced Olympic gold medallists who added the world title to their ranks. But their countrymen proved that they were here to stay.

Five months later, there was a new Swedish pair atop the FIVB men’s world rankings.

“We never expected to play in the final, and against David and Jonatan,” Andersson tells Olympics.com . “Halfway through the season, we didn't even think we were going to qualify for the World Championships, so it was very unexpected, but we're happy.”

Hölting Nilsson adds: “It's always good to know that you can do that and that you can win a tournament.

“You prove it to yourself, and you believe a little bit more next time that you could beat all the teams in the world.”

An on-court rivalry between Swedish stars could not be more contrasting outside of competition.

The quartet train together in Stockholm, are all coached by Rasmus Jonsson and Anders Kristiansson , and even collaborate in social media skits.

“Everybody helps to push each other and become better, so that's a big part of it, that we practise together and can build our games together,” explains Hölting Nilsson.

Andersson is keen to work on the ‘Swedish jump set’ style mastered by their Olympic champion teammates.

“Our receiving can become better and also our defence and block to try to earn points on our serve, to be able to play more second ball, jump set and defence,” he says.

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Hölting Nilsson and Andersson, the new kids on the block

When they reached world No. 1 in April, Hölting Nilsson and Andersson became the youngest-ever male duo to reach the summit, aged 21 and 19 respectively.

They picked up the nickname of ‘the Icemen’ last year from a commentator , who used the term to describe Hölting Nilsson.

It also felt appropriate to distinguish themselves from Team Åhman

Hellvig, while paying tribute to the cool temperatures back home.

Andersson looks back to last year’s Elite16 event in Gstaad, Switzerland, as the team’s turning point.

“If we had not qualified for that tournament, it would have been almost impossible for us to qualify for the World Championships,” he explains. “Our second place in Gstaad was very much the breakthrough and a key tournament for us.”

Hölting Nilsson continues: “It's always nice to go into a big tournament with a good result before.

“The result maybe doesn't matter as much, but some good performances are always nice going into a bigger tournament.”

The EuroBeachVolley in Poland is the next major tournament from 12-16 August. It will award the first beach volleyball quota for LA28 , obtained by the winners of the men’s competition and newly crowned European champions.

Hölting Nilsson explains: “The European Championships are a really tough tournament.

“All the best teams in Europe are there, but nowadays most of the good teams from all around the world are from Europe, so it's going to be very hard.

“Everyone there can lose to every team, so it's going to be a battle.”

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the LA Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at LA28.

“We can't play even better just because we want to go to LA,” asserts Andersson. “We'll make our best effort and we would have made it anyway.

“Of course it's special that if you win you qualify, but we can't do anything about it; we can only play our best and hope we win the game.”

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