Volleyball at the Summer Olympics

Volleyball at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	FIVB
Events	2 (men: 1; women: 1)
	Games
	Medalists

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Volleyball has been contested as an indoor sport at the Summer Olympic Games since 1964. Beach volleyball was introduced at the 1992 Games, and has been an official Olympic sport since 1996.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

The history of Olympic volleyball can be traced back to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where volleyball was played as part of an American sports demonstration event. Consideration of its addition to the Olympic program, however, was given only ... after World War II, with the foundation of the FIVB and of some of the continental confederations. In 1957, a special tournament was held at the 53rd IOC session in Sofia, Bulgaria, to support such request. The competition was a success, and the sport was officially introduced in 1964. The Olympic Committee initially dropped volleyball for the 1968 Olympics, meeting protests.^[1]

The volleyball Olympic tournament was originally a simple competition, whose format paralleled the one still employed in the World Cup: all teams played against each other team and then were ranked by wins, set average and point average. One disadvantage of this round-robin system is that medal winners could be determined before the end of the games, making the audience lose interest in the outcome of the remaining matches.

To cope with this situation, the competition was split into two phases: a "final round" was introduced, consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Since its creation in 1972, this new system has become the standard for the volleyball Olympic tournament, and is usually referred to as the "Olympic format".

The number of teams involved in the games has grown steadily since 1964. Since 1996, both men's and women's indoor events count 12 participant nations. Each of the five continental volleyball confederations has at least one affiliated national federation involved in the Olympic Games.

Beach volleyball was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and was introduced as an official Olympic event in 1996. A total of 24 teams participate in each beach volleyball Olympic tournament. Teams qualify on the basis of their performance in FIVB events over the course of approximately 18 months leading up to the Olympics. There is a limit of two teams per country, and one spot each is reserved for the host country and a randomly chosen wildcard country. In the event that any continent is not represented, the highest ranked team from that continent qualifies for the tournament.

[edit] Men's volleyball

The first two editions of the volleyball Olympic tournament were won by the Soviet Union. Third in 1964 and runner-up in 1968, Japan won gold in 1972. In 1976, the introduction of a new offensive skill, the back row attack, helped Poland win the competition over the Soviets in a very tight five-setter.

In 1980, many of the strongest teams in men's volleyball belonged to the Eastern Bloc, so the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics did not have as great an effect on these events as it had on the women's. The USSR collected their third Olympic gold medal with a 3-1 victory over Bulgaria.

With a Soviet-led boycott in 1984, the United States confirmed their new volleyball leadership in the Western World by sweeping smoothly over Brazil at the finals. In that edition a minor nation, Italy, won its first medal, but Italy would rise to prominence in volleyball in later years.

A long-awaited confrontation between the western and eastern volleyball leaders came in 1988: powerplayers Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons pushed the USA to a second gold medal setting the issue in favor of the Americans.

In 1992, Brazil upset favorites Unified Team, Netherlands, and Italy for a first Olympic championship. Runner-up Netherlands, with Ron Zwerver and Olof van der Meulen, came back in the following edition for a five-set win, again over Italy. In spite of their success in other competitions, Italy did not fare well at the Olympics. After winning bronze in 1996, Serbia and Montenegro, led by Vladimir and Nikola Grbić, beat Russia at the finals in 2000 to secure the gold (in 1996 and 2000 they played under the name Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).

In 2004, Brazil beat Italy in the final, adding a second gold medal to its record and confirming its role as a superpower of 2000s.

In 2008, United States beat Brazil in the final, winning the third gold medal. Russia won the bronze for the second time.

Gold medals seem more evenly distributed in men's volleyball than in women's: United States and the former Soviet Union have three; and Brazil, two; the remaining four editions of the Volleyball Olympic Tournament were won each by a different country. The remaining major force, Italy, is runner-up to the USSR in total number of medals, but still lacks a gold medal.

[edit] Women's volleyball

The opening edition of the volleyball Olympic tournament, in 1964, was won by Japan, the host nation. There followed two victories in a row by the Soviet Union, in 1968 and 1972. Japan came back again in 1976 for one last Olympic gold before losing the status of volleyball superpower.

The American-led boycott of the 1980 Games left many strong volleyball nations like Japan and South Korea out of the games. As a result, the USSR easily secured a third Olympic gold medal.

In 1984, the Eastern bloc was, in its turn, boycotting the games, and once more many strong volleyball nations like the USSR, East Germany and Cuba did not participate. In spite of this, and much to the distress of local fans, host nation USA lost the finals in straight sets to a communist nation, China. With eastern and western nations again involved in the Olympics, the USSR obtained a remarkable victory over Peru after trailing 0-2 in 1988's finals. This was the most dramatic female match according to the official FIVB's first century tape. However, the 1988 games were marred by the boycott of Cuba.

1992 saw a new force go down in Olympic history: organized under the name Unified Team, the remnants of former Soviet Union went as far as the finals, but did not resist the power play of the young, rising Cuban squad. Led by superstars Mireya Luis and Regla Torres, Cuba would eventually set the record for consecutive wins in the Olympic Games by also taking the gold in 1996 and 2000.

In 2004, the winner was once again China. Second was Russia who beat Brazil in a very tough semifinal match.

In 2008, Brazil finally won the gold, beating the United States. China won the bronze.

The twelve editions of the Volleyball Olympic Tournament were won by only five different countries: Brazil, Soviet Union, Cuba, China and Japan.

[edit] Men's beach volleyball

Men's beach volleyball was added to the Olympics in the 1996 Atlanta games. On Atlanta, US's Kiraly/Steffes won gold, beating US's Dodd/Whitmarsh who took silver. Canada's Child/Heese took bronze.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympic games, US's Blanton/Fonoimoana took gold beating Brazil's Zé Marco/Ricardo who took silver, Germany's Ahmann/Hager won bronze.

In the 2004 Athens Olympic games, Brazil's Santos/Rego took gold defeating Spain's Bosma/Herrera, who took silver. Switzerland's Kobel/Heuscher beat out the tough Australian team of Prosser/Williams for bronze.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, US's Dalhausser/Rogers took gold defeating Brazil's Fábio Luiz/Márcio Araújo, who took silver. Brazil's Ricardo Santos/Emanuel Rego won the bronze.

[edit] Women's beach volleyball

Women's beach volleyball was added to the Olympics in the 1996 Atlanta games. In Atlanta, Brazil's Pires/Silva won gold, Brazil's Rodrigues/Samuel won silver, and Australia's Cook/Pottharst won bronze.

In the 2000 Sydney Olympic games, as expected Australia's Cook/Pottharst (Atlanta's Bronze medalists) won gold, Brazil's Bede/Behar won silver, and Brazil's Pires/Samuel (Atlanta's gold and silver medalists) won bronze.

In the 2004 Athens Olympic games, as expected US's Walsh/May won gold, Brazil's Bede/Behar took silver for the second Olympics, US's McPeak/Youngs took bronze, beating out Australia's team of Cook/Sanderson in a close fought match.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, US's Walsh/May-Treanor won gold, China's Wang/Tian won silver, and China's Zhang/Xue took bronze.

[edit] Competition formula

[edit] Volleyball

The volleyball Olympic tournament has a very stable competition formula. The following rules apply:

Twelve teams participate in each event.
Host nations are always pre-qualified.
Three teams qualify through the World Cup.
Five teams qualify as winners of continental qualification tournaments.
The three remaining berths are decided in world qualification tournaments.
The competition has two phases.
For the first phase, called qualification round, teams are ranked by the FIVB World Rankings and then divided in two pools of six teams using the serpentine system. The host nation is always ranked 1.
At the qualification round, each team plays one match against all other teams in its pool. Top four teams in each pool advance, the remaining two leave the competition.
At the second phase, usually called final round, teams play quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
For the final round, matches are organized according to the results obtained in the qualification round. Let the top four teams in each pool be A1, A2, A3, A4; B1, B2, B3, B4. Quarterfinals would then be: A1xB4; A2xB3; A3xB2; A4xB1.
Winners of quarterfinals play semifinals as follows: (A1/B4) x (A3/B2); (A2/B3) x (A4xB1).
At the finals, winners of semifinals play for the gold, and losers for the bronze.
The tournament implements very tight line-up restrictions: only twelve players are allowed, and no replacement is permitted, even in case of injuries.

[edit] Beach volleyball

24 teams participate in each event
Teams qualify by accumulating points in FIVB Olympic Qualification Tournaments
1 host nation team is prequalified
At most 2 teams from any country may qualify (not counting the host nation's guaranteed berth)
In the event of an unrepresented continent, the top team from that continent will qualify
Each team consists of exactly 2 players—no substitutions
Teams are divided into 6 pools of 4 teams each
Only last place teams in each pool will be eliminated
Top 18 teams after pool play participate in a single-elimination tournament, with a play-off for third place

[edit] Results

[edit] Volleyball

[edit] Men

Year	Host	Gold medal match			Bronze medal match
Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	3rd place	Score	4th place
1964 Details	Tokyo	Soviet Union	^{[note 1]}	Czechoslovakia	Japan	^{[note 1]}	Romania
1968 Details	Mexico City	Soviet Union	^{[note 1]}	Japan	Czechoslovakia	^{[note 1]}	East Germany
1972 Details	Munich	Japan	3–1	East Germany	Soviet Union	3–0	Bulgaria
1976 Details	Montreal	Poland	3–2	Soviet Union	Cuba	3–0	Japan
1980 Details	Moscow	Soviet Union	3–1	Bulgaria	Romania	3–1	Poland
1984 Details	Los Angeles	United States	3–0	Brazil	Italy	3–0	Canada
1988 Details	Seoul	United States	3–1	Soviet Union	Argentina	3–2	Brazil
1992 Details	Barcelona	Brazil	3–0	Netherlands	United States	3–1	Cuba
1996 Details	Atlanta	Netherlands	3–2	Italy	Yugoslavia	3–1	Russia
2000 Details	Sydney	Yugoslavia	3–0	Russia	Italy	3–0	Argentina
2004 Details	Athens	Brazil	3–1	Italy	Russia	3–0	United States
2008 Details	Beijing	United States	3–1	Brazil	Russia	3–0	Italy
2012 Details	London
2016 Details	Rio de Janeiro

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d No playoffs was played; teams played each other once in the round robin; the best team with the best record wins the gold medal.

[edit] Women

Year	Host	Gold medal match			Bronze medal match
Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	3rd place	Score	4th place
1964 Details	Tokyo	Japan	^{[note 1]}	Soviet Union	Poland	^{[note 1]}	Romania
1968 Details	Mexico City	Soviet Union	^{[note 1]}	Japan	Poland	^{[note 1]}	Peru
1972 Details	Munich	Soviet Union	3–2	Japan	North Korea	3–0	South Korea
1976 Details	Montreal	Japan	3–0	Soviet Union	South Korea	3–1	Hungary
1980 Details	Moscow	Soviet Union	3–1	East Germany	Bulgaria	3–2	Hungary
1984 Details	Los Angeles	China	3–0	United States	Japan	3–1	Peru
1988 Details	Seoul	Soviet Union	3–2	Peru	China	3–0	Japan
1992 Details	Barcelona	Cuba	3–1	Unified Team	United States	3–0	Brazil
1996 Details	Atlanta	Cuba	3–1	China	Brazil	3–2	Russia
2000 Details	Sydney	Cuba	3–2	Russia	Brazil	3–0	United States
2004 Details	Athens	China	3–2	Russia	Cuba	3–1	Brazil
2008 Details	Beijing	Brazil	3–1	United States	China	3–1	Cuba
2012 Details	London
2016 Details	Rio de Janeiro

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d No playoffs was played; teams played each other once in the round robin; the best team with the best record wins the gold medal.

[edit] MVP by edition

[edit] Men

[edit] Women

[edit] Beach volleyball

[edit] Men

Year	Host	Gold medal match			Bronze medal match
Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	3rd place	Score	4th place
1996 Details	Atlanta	Karch Kiraly & Kent Steffes	2–0	Michael Dodd & Mike Whitmarsh	John Child & Mark Heese	2–0	João Brenha & Miguel Maia
2000 Details	Sydney	Dain Blanton & Eric Fonoimoana	2–0	Zé Marco de Melo & Ricardo Santos	Axel Hager & Jörg Ahmann	2–0	João Brenha & Miguel Maia
2004 Details	Athens	Ricardo Santos & Emanuel Rego	2–0	Javier Bosma & Pablo Herrera	Stefan Kobel & Patrick Heuscher	2–1	Julien Prosser & Mark Williams
2008 Details	Beijing	Phil Dalhausser & Todd Rogers	2–1	Fábio Luiz & Márcio Araújo	Ricardo Santos & Emanuel Rego	2–0	Renato "Geor" Gomes & Jorge "Gia" Terceiro
2012 Details	London
2016 Details	Rio de Janeiro

[edit] Women

Year	Host	Gold medal match			Bronze medal match
Year	Host	Champions	Score	Runners-up	3rd place	Score	4th place
1996 Details	Atlanta	Jackie Silva & Sandra Pires	2–0	Adriana Samuel & Mônica Rodrigues	Natalie Cook & Kerri Pottharst	2–0	Barbra Fontana & Linda Hanley
2000 Details	Sydney	Natalie Cook & Kerri Pottharst	2–0	Adriana Behar & Shelda Bede	Adriana Samuel & Sandra Pires	2–0	Yukiko Takahashi & Mika Teru Saiki
2004 Details	Athens	Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor	2–0	Adriana Behar & Shelda Bede	Holly McPeak & Elaine Youngs	2–1	Natalie Cook & Nicole Sanderson
2008 Details	Beijing	Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor	2–0	Tian Jia & Wang Jie	Xue Chen & Zhang Xi	2–0	Renata Ribeiro & Talita Antunes
2012 Details	London
2016 Details	Rio de Janeiro

[edit] Medal table

[edit] Total

Countries ranked by total medals won (beach and indoor, men's and women's).

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	8	3	3	14
2	Soviet Union	7	4	1	12
3	Brazil	5	7	4	16
4	Japan	3	3	2	8
5	Cuba	3	0	2	5
6	China	2	2	3	7
7	Netherlands	1	1	0	2
8	Poland	1	0	2	3
9	Australia	1	0	1	2
9	Serbia	1	0	1	2
11	Russia	0	3	2	5
12	Italy	0	2	2	4
13	East Germany	0	2	0	2
14	Bulgaria	0	1	1	2
14	Czechoslovakia	0	1	1	2
16	Peru	0	1	0	1
	Spain	0	1	0	1
	Unified Team	0	1	0	1
19	Argentina	0	0	1	1
	Canada	0	0	1	1
	Germany	0	0	1	1
	North Korea	0	0	1	1
	Romania	0	0	1	1
	South Korea	0	0	1	1
	Switzerland	0	0	1	1

[edit] Men's volleyball

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	3	2	1	6
2	United States	3	0	1	4
3	Brazil	2	2	0	4
4	Japan	1	1	1	3
5	Netherlands	1	1	0	2
6	Yugoslavia	1	0	1	2
7	Poland	1	0	0	1
8	Italy	0	2	2	4
9	Russia	0	1	2	3
10	Czechoslovakia	0	1	1	2
11	Bulgaria	0	1	0	1
11	East Germany	0	1	0	1
13	Argentina	0	0	1	1
	Cuba	0	0	1	1
	Romania	0	0	1	1

[edit] Women's volleyball

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	4	2	0	6
2	Cuba	3	0	1	4
3	Japan	2	2	1	5
4	China	2	1	2	5
5	Brazil	1	0	2	3
6	United States	0	2	1	3
7	Russia	0	2	0	2
8	East Germany	0	1	0	1
	Peru	0	1	0	1
	Unified Team	0	1	0	1
11	Poland	0	0	2	2
12	Bulgaria	0	0	1	1
	North Korea	0	0	1	1
	South Korea	0	0	1	1

[edit] Men's beach volleyball

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	3	1	0	4
2	Brazil	1	2	1	4
3	Spain	0	1	0	1
4	Canada	0	0	1	1
	Germany	0	0	1	1
	Switzerland	0	0	1	1

[edit] Women's beach volleyball

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	2	0	1	3
2	Brazil	1	3	1	5
3	Australia	1	0	1	2
4	China	0	1	1	2

[edit] Participating nations

The following tables shows the nations that have participated in Olympic volleyball. For each Games, the final rank of each team is shown, or left blank if the team did not participate in those Games. An equals sign in front of the rank indicates that more than one team tied for that rank. Light grey regions in the table indicate that the nation did not exist with that designation at that time. The right-hand column lists the number of times each country has participated in the Olympic volleyball tournament.

[edit] Men's volleyball

Nation	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Total
Algeria								12						1
Argentina						6	3		8	4	=5			5
Australia										8	=11			2
Belgium		8												1
Brazil	7	9	8	7	5	2	4	1	5	6	1	2	Q	13
Bulgaria	5	6	4		2		6		7			=5		7
Canada				9		4		10						3
China						7						=5		2
Cuba			10	3	7			4	6	7				6
Czechoslovakia	2	3	6	5	8									5
Egypt				WD		10				=11		=11		4
France							8	11			=9			3
Germany												=9		1
East Germany		4	2											2
West Germany			11											1
Great Britain													Q	1
Greece											=5			1
Hungary	6													1
Italy				8	9	3	9	5	2	3	2	4		9
Japan	3	2	1	4		8	10	6				=11		8
South Korea	10		7	6		5	11	9	=9	=9				8
Libya					10									1
Mexico		10												1
Netherlands	8						5	2	1	5	=9			6
Poland		5	9	1	4				=11		=5	=5	Q	8
Romania	4		5		3									3
Russia									4	2	3	3	Q	5
Serbia												=5		1
Serbia and Montenegro											=5			1
Soviet Union	1	1	3	2	1		2							6
Spain								8		=9				2
Sweden							7							1
Tunisia			12			9	12		=11		=11		Q	6
Unified Team								7						1
United States	9	7				1	1	3	=9	=11	4	1		9
Venezuela												=9		1
Yugoslavia					6									1
Yugoslavia									3	1				2

Total teams	10	10	12	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	5	129

[edit] Women's volleyball

Nation	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	Total
Algeria												=11	1
Australia										=9			1
Brazil					7	7	6	4	3	3	4	1	8
Bulgaria					3								1
Canada				8		8			=9				3
China						1	3	7	2	5	1	3	7
Croatia										7			1
Cuba			6	5	5			1	1	1	3	4	8
Czechoslovakia		6	7										2
Dominican Republic											=11		1
Germany									8	6	=9		3
East Germany				6	2		5						3
West Germany			8			6							2
Greece											=9		1
Hungary			5	4	4								3
Italy										=9	=5	=5	3
Japan	1	2	2	1		3	4	5	=9		=5	=5	10
Kazakhstan												=9	1
Kenya										=11	=11		2
North Korea			3										1
South Korea	6	5	4	3		5	8		6	8	=5		9
Mexico		7											1
Netherlands								6	5				2
Peru		4		7	6	4	2		=11	=11			7
Poland	3	3										=9	3
Romania	4				8								2
Russia									4	2	2	=5	3
Serbia												=5	1
Spain								8					1
Soviet Union	2	1	1	2	1		1						6
Ukraine									=11				1
Unified Team								2					1
United States	5	8				2	7	3	7	4	=5	2	9
Venezuela												=11	1

Total teams	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	12

[edit] Beach volleyball

Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
Angola	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19th	1
Argentina	-	14th	-	9th	-	9th	-	19th	4
Argentina	-	-	-	19th	-	-	-	-	4
Australia	3rd	9th	1st	9th	4th	4th	5th	9th	4
	7th	-	5th	17th	9th	9th	-	-
	-	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-
Austria	-	-	-	9th	-	17th	5th	5th	3
Austria	-	-	-	-	-	19th	-	9th	3
Brazil	1st	9th	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	4th	2nd	4
Brazil	2nd	9th	3rd	9th	5th	9th	5th	3rd	4
Belgium	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	-	1
Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
Bulgaria	-	-	17th	-	9th	-	-	-	2
Canada	17th	3rd	-	5th	5th	5th	-	-	3
Canada	-	17th	-	9th	-	-	-	-	3
China	-	-	9th	-	9th	-	2nd	9th	3
China	-	-	17th	-	19th	-	3rd	-	3
Cuba	-	7th	9th	-	9th	17th	9th	-	4
Cuba	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	-	4
Czech Republic	-	14th	9th	17th	9th	-	-	-	3
Czech Republic	-	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	3
Estonia	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	19th	2
Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
France	13th	14th	9th	19th	-	19th	-	-	3
Georgia	-	-	-	-	-	-	17th	4th	1
Germany	7th	9th	9th	3rd	5th	5th	9th	5th	4
Germany	-	-	9th	19th	9th	9th	9th	19th	4
Great Britain	9th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Greece	-	-	17th	-	9th	19th	9th	-	3
Greece	-	-	-	-	9th	-	19th	-	3
Indonesia	13th	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
Italy	13th	14th	5th	19th	5th	-	-	19th	4
Italy	-	-	9th	-	-	-	-	-	4
Japan	5th	17th	4th	-	17th	-	19th	9th	4
Japan	9th	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	4
Latvia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	1
Mexico	17th	-	17th	9th	19th	-	17th	-	4
Netherlands	13th	17th	17th	-	19th	-	19th	5th	4
Netherlands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17th	4
Norway	9th	7th	-	9th	17th	9th	9th	19th	4
Norway	-	-	-	19th	19th	19th	9th	-	4
Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
New Zealand	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Portugal	-	4th	9th	4th	-	9th	-	-	3
Puerto Rico	-	-	-	-	-	19th	-	-	1
Russia	-	-	-	9th	-	-	19th	9th	2
South Africa	-	-	-	-	19th	9th	19th	-	2
Spain	-	5th	-	5th	-	2nd	-	9th	4
Spain	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
Nation	1996		2000		2004		2008		Years
Nation	W	M	W	M	W	M	W	M	Years
Switzerland	-	-	-	5th	19th	3rd	19th	9th	3
Switzerland	-	-	-	-	-	5th	-	17th	3
Sweden	-	17th	-	19th	-	9th	-	-	3
United States	4th	1st	5th	1st	1st	5th	1st	1st	4
	5th	2nd	5th	5th	3rd	19th	5th	5th
	9th	5th	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nations	21		23		24		23