Javier and Joaquin Bello: Beach volleyball twins target Olympics

"We argue a lot. We are well known for that," joked British beach volleyball player Joaquin Bello.

He and twin brother Javier also have a natural telepathy that has become a defining feature of their partnership.

Winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was a major step on their journey.

This year, the 23-year-olds reached the quarter-finals of the European Championships in Vienna, putting next summer's Olympic Games in their sights.

All of these feats have been achieved without being professional athletes or having the funding to match many of their rivals.

"We try and do the best with what we've got," said Javier of the family-powered team, who are coached by their dad Luis.

He told BBC Radio London: "He is a full-time teacher and in his spare time we train in the evenings, usually six days a week. We have been playing pretty much our entire lives."

In reaching the European quarter-finals, they shocked the sport by beating 2016 Olympic medallists Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen from the Netherlands.

"We weren't expecting anything," Javier said. "We are an up-and-coming team with really limited resources and that was a huge upset for us.

"When we go out there, we can see that we have the talent and ability, but perhaps we need a little bit of extra support - that grain of sand - to be able to take it even further."

For Joaquin, the end of the summer's exploits has meant a return to placements as part of the final year of his medicine degree at Imperial College London.

"Studying is really important for us to have back-ups for later," he said. "In the future, we want to play full-time. We want to see how far we can go.

"Our biggest objective is to go to the Olympic Games - currently aiming for 2028 - but we have quite a lot of chances for next year in Paris."

Britain's best Olympic performance was Audrey Cooper and Amanda Glover's ninth-place finish at Atlanta 1996.

London 2012 was the only other time that Team GB have been represented, with John Garcia-Thompson and Steve Grotowski eliminated in the pool stage.

Javier and Joaquin are ranked 46th in the world and 24 Olympic spots are available.

"All of these goals are in front of us every day," said Javier. "But when we look at the big picture, we also know what a positive impact we can have, having more kids and people taking part."

But in their desire to grow the sport, the duo - who train outdoors at London's Barn Elms - are aware of one obvious hurdle. The British weather.

"For a lot of the months of the year, we train in really cold conditions," said Joaquin.

"I think it makes us really strong mentally because we are able to overcome that.

"When we go out to competitions in nicer conditions, it feels easy, like we can play better than other teams."