Volleyball at the Summer Olympics

Volleyball at the Summer Olympics
Governing body FIVB
Events 2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952
1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976
1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000
2004 2008 2012
Medalists

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.

Contents

History

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Competition formula

Volleyball

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

Beach volleyball

Results

Volleyball

Men

Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match
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
  1. ^ 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.

Women

Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match
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
  1. ^ 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.

MVP by edition

Men
Women

Beach volleyball

Men

Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match
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

Women

Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match
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

Medal table

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
Yugoslavia 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
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

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
East Germany 0 1 0 1
13 Argentina 0 0 1 1
Cuba 0 0 1 1
Romania 0 0 1 1

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

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

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

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.

Men's volleyball

Nation 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 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 12
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
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 7
Romania 4 5 3 3
Russia 4 2 3 3 4
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 5
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 12 124

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

Beach volleyball

Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
Angola - - - - - - - 19th 1
Argentina - 14th - 9th - 9th - 19th 4
- - - 19th - - - -
Australia 3rd 9th 1st 9th 4th 4th 5th 9th 4
7th - 5th 17th 9th 9th - -
- - 17th - - - - -
Austria - - - 9th - 17th 5th 5th 3
- - - - - 19th - 9th
Brazil 1st 9th 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 4th 2nd 4
2nd 9th 3rd 9th 5th 9th 5th 3rd
Belgium - - - - - - 9th - 1
Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
Bulgaria - - 17th - 9th - - - 2
Canada 17th 3rd - 5th 5th 5th - - 3
- 17th - 9th - - - -
China - - 9th - 9th - 2nd 9th 3
- - 17th - 19th - 3rd -
Cuba - 7th 9th - 9th 17th 9th - 4
- - - - - - 9th -
Czech Republic - 14th 9th 17th 9th - - - 3
- - 17th - - - - -
Estonia - 17th - - - - - 19th 2
Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
France 13th 14th 9th 19th - 19th - - 3
Georgia - - - - - - 17th 4th 1
Germany 7th 9th 9th 3rd 5th 5th 9th 5th 4
- - 9th 19th 9th 9th 9th 19th
Great Britain 9th - - - - - - - 1
Greece - - 17th - 9th 19th 9th - 3
- - - - 9th - 19th -
Indonesia 13th 17th - - - - - - 1
Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
Italy 13th 14th 5th 19th 5th - - 19th 4
- - 9th - - - - -
Japan 5th 17th 4th - 17th - 19th 9th 4
9th - 17th - - - - -
Latvia - - - - - - - 9th 1
Mexico 17th - 17th 9th 19th - 17th - 4
Netherlands 13th 17th 17th - 19th - 19th 5th 4
- - - - - - - 17th
Norway 9th 7th - 9th 17th 9th 9th 19th 4
- - - 19th 19th 19th 9th -
Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
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
- 17th - - - - - -
Nation 1996 2000 2004 2008 Years
W M W M W M W M
Switzerland - - - 5th 19th 3rd 19th 9th 3
- - - - - 5th - 17th
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

See also

References

External links