Volleyball at the Summer Olympics

Volleyball has been part of the Summer Olympics program for both men and women consistently since 1964.

For the outdoor event, see Beach volleyball at the Summer Olympics.
Volleyball at the Summer Olympics
Governing bodyFIVB
Events2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games
  • 1896
  • 1900
  • 1904
  • 1908
  • 1912
  • 1920
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952

Brazil, United States, and the former Soviet Union, are the only teams to win multiple gold medals at the men's tournament since its introduction. The remaining five editions of the Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament were won each by a different country including Japan, Poland, Netherlands, Russia and the defunct Yugoslavia.

Gold medals are less evenly distributed in women's volleyball than in men's; the fourteen editions of the Women's Olympic Volleyball Tournament were won by only five countries: Brazil, Cuba, China, Japan and the former Soviet Union.

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. 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 during 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 number of 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.

Events
Event646872768084889296000408121620Years
Men's tournament X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 15
Women's tournament X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 15
Total222222222222222

Men's winners

The first two editions of the volleyball Olympic tournament were won by the Soviet Union team. Bronze in 1964 and silver 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 Soviet Union 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 their first medal, but Italy would rise to prominence in volleyball in later decades. A long-awaited confrontation between the US and Soviet volleyball teams came in the 1988 final: powerplayers Karch Kiraly and Steve Timmons pushed the United States to a second gold medal setting the issue in favor of the Americans.

In 1992, Brazil upset favorites Unified Team, Netherlands, and Italy for their first Olympic championship. Runners-up Netherlands, with Ron Zwerver and Olof van der Meulen, came back in the following edition for a five-set win over Italy. In spite of their success in other major volleyball competitions in the 1990s, Italy did not fare well at the Olympics. After winning bronze in Atlanta, Serbia and Montenegro, led by Vladimir and Nikola Grbić, beat Russia at the final 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 their record and confirming their role as the men's volleyball superpowers of the 2000s. In 2008, United States beat Brazil in the final, winning their third gold medal. Russia won the bronze for the second time by defeating Italy. In the 2012 final, Russia came back from a 0–2 set deficit, not letting the Brazilians take advantage of any of their 2 match points in the third set. Dmitriy Muserskiy scored 31 points, which is an Olympic Games record in a final. Italy defeated Bulgaria and took Bronze.[2]

After coming up short in the previous two editions of the Olympics as runners-up, the Brazilians captured their third gold medal in the history of the competition playing home in 2016 after their straight-set victory against Italy in the final.[3] The United States pulled off a comeback from a 0–2 deficit to claim the bronze medal with a victory over Russia.[4]

Gold medals appear to be more evenly distributed in men's volleyball than in women's: former Soviet Union (three titles), United States (three) and Brazil (three) are the only teams to have won the tournament more than once. The remaining four editions were won each by a different country. Despite being a major force in men's volleyball since the 1990s, Italy are still the only volleyball powerhouses that lack a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Women's winners
Women's volleyball semifinals match between USA and South Korea at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The opening edition of the volleyball Olympic tournament, in 1964, was won by the host nation Japan. There followed two victories in a row by the Soviet Union, in 1968 and 1972. South Korea were expected to get their first gold after beating Japan in the 1975 Pre-Olympic Games, but Japan came back again in 1976 for one last Olympic gold before losing their status of women's volleyball superpowers.

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 Soviet Union easily secured a third Olympic gold medal. In 1984, the Eastern bloc was, in its turn, boycotting the games, and the Soviet Union did not participate. As a result, host nation United States won its first medals in volleyball, losing the finals to China. With eastern and western nations again involved in the Olympics, the Soviet Union obtained a remarkable victory over Peru after trailing 0–2 in 1988's marking one of the most dramatic female matches of the 20th century. The 1988 games were, however, boycotted by Cuba.

1992 saw a new force go down in Olympic history: organized under the name Unified Team, the nations of the former Soviet Union that chose to form a combined team easily reached the gold medal game, 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 against China and Russia, respectively.

In 2004, the winners were once again China. Second were Russia who beat Brazil in a very tough and dramatic semifinal match after being down 1–2, 19–24 in the fourth set.

In 2008, Brazil finally won the gold, beating the United States in the final and losing only one set in the competition. China were awarded the bronze by beating Cuba. After a troubled start, Brazil secured the double gold in 2012 after beating the United States once again in the final.[5] Japan won the bronze medal after defeating South Korea.

In 2016, home team Brazil were favorites to once again win the title, thus equalling Cuba's three consecutive gold medals between 1992 and 2000. After winning all of their preliminary round matches without dropping a set, the team was, however, stunned by a young Chinese squad in a tiebreaker in the quarterfinals. China went on to win the title, their third in Olympic history, by beating Serbia in four sets in the gold medal match.[6] In the process, Lang Ping became the first person to win a gold medal as a player in Los Angeles 1984 and repeat the feat now as a coach in Rio de Janeiro.[7] China also became the first team to win the Olympics after losing three matches in the preliminary round. The United States defeated Netherlands 3–1 to capture the bronze medal.[8]

The fourteen editions of the women's tournament were won by five countries: Brazil, China, Cuba, Japan and the former Soviet Union. Despite becoming a women's volleyball powerhouse in the 21st century, United States still lack an Olympic gold.

Competition formula

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

Qualification
  • Twelve teams participate in each event.
  • Host nations are always pre-qualified.
  • Two teams qualify through the Men's and Women's World Cup (this number was reduced from three prior to the 2016 Summer Olympics).
  • Five teams qualify as winners of continental qualification tournaments.
  • The four remaining berths are decided in world qualification tournaments.
Competition format
  • 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 (group A); and B1, B2, B3, B4 (group B). 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.

Men's tournaments

Results summary
Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match Teams
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score 4th place
1964
Details
Tokyo
Soviet Union		 Round-robin
(3–2)
Czechoslovakia
Japan		 Round-robin
(3–0)
Romania		 10
1968
Details
Mexico City
Soviet Union		 Round-robin
(3–1)
Japan
Czechoslovakia		 Round-robin
(3–2)
East Germany		 10
1972
Details
Munich
Japan		 3–1
East Germany
Soviet Union		 3–0
Bulgaria		 12
1976
Details
Montreal
Poland		 3–2
Soviet Union
Cuba		 3–0
Japan		 10
1980
Details
Moscow
Soviet Union		 3–1
Bulgaria
Romania		 3–1
Poland		 10
1984
Details
Los Angeles
United States		 3–0
Brazil
Italy		 3–0
Canada		 10
1988
Details
Seoul
United States		 3–1
Soviet Union
Argentina		 3–2
Brazil		 12
1992
Details
Barcelona
Brazil		 3–0
Netherlands
United States		 3–1
Cuba		 12
1996
Details
Atlanta
Netherlands		 3–2
Italy
FR Yugoslavia		 3–1
Russia		 12
2000
Details
Sydney
FR Yugoslavia		 3–0
Russia
Italy		 3–0
Argentina		 12
2004
Details
Athens
Brazil		 3–1
Italy
Russia		 3–0
United States		 12
2008
Details
Beijing
United States		 3–1
Brazil
Russia		 3–0
Italy		 12
2012
Details
London
Russia		 3–2
Brazil
Italy		 3–1
Bulgaria		 12
2016
Details
Rio de Janeiro
Brazil		 3–0
Italy
United States		 3–2
Russia		 12
2020
Details
Tokyo		 – – 12
2024
Details
Paris

Participating nations
Legend
  • 1st – Gold medalists
  • 2nd – Silver medalists
  • 3rd – Bronze medalists
  • 4th – 4th place
  •  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
  •    – Hosts
  • = – More than one team tied for that rank
  • Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
Team
1964
(10)
1968
(10)
1972
(12)
1976
(10)
1980
(10)
1984
(10)
1988
(12)
1992
(12)
1996
(12)
2000
(12)
2004
(12)
2008
(12)
2012
(12)
2016
(12)
2020
(12)		 Total
 Algeria•••••••12th•••••••1
 Argentina•••••6th3rd•8th4th=5th•=5th=5thQ8
 Australia•••••••••8th=11th•=9th••3
 Belgium•8th•••••••••••••1
 Brazil7th9th8th7th5th2nd4th1st5th6th1st2nd2nd1stQ15
 Bulgaria5th6th4th•2nd•6th•7th••=5th4th••8
 Canada•••9th•4th•10th•••••=5thQ5
 China•••••8th•••••=5th•••2
 Cuba••10th3rd7th••4th6th7th•••=11th•7
 Egypt•••WD•10th•••=11th•=11th•=9th•5
 France••••••8th11th••=9th••=9thQ5
 GermanySee  East Germany
and  West Germany		••••=9th=5th••2
 Great Britain••••••••••••=11th••1
 Greece••••••••••=5th••••1
 Hungary6th••••••••••••••1
 Iran•••••••••••••=5thQ2
 Italy•••8th9th3rd9th5th2nd3rd2nd4th3rd2ndQ12
 Japan3rd2nd1st4th•7th10th6th•••=11th••Q9
 Libya••••10th••••••••••1
 Mexico•10th•••••••••••=11th•2
 Netherlands8th•••••5th2nd1st5th=9th••••6
 Poland•5th9th1st4th•••=11th•=5th=5th=5th=5thQ10
 Romania4th•5th•3rd••••••••••3
 RussiaPart of  Soviet Union4th2nd3rd3rd1st4thQ7
 SerbiaPart of  YugoslaviaPart of  FRY /  SCG=5th=9th••2
 South Korea10th•7th6th•5th11th9th=9th=9th•••••8
 Spain•••••••8th•=9th•••••2
 Sweden••••••7th••••••••1
 Tunisia••12th••9th12th•=11th•=11th•=11th•Q7
 United States9th7th•••1st1st3rd=9th=11th4th1st=5th3rdQ12
 Venezuela•••••••••••=9th••Q2
Discontinued nations
 Czechoslovakia2nd3rd6th5th8th•••See  Czech Republic and  Slovakia5
 East Germany•4th2nd••••See  Germany2
 FR Yugoslavia /
 Serbia and Montenegro		Part of  Yugoslavia•3rd1st=5thSee  Serbia
and  Montenegro		3[upper-alpha 1]
 Soviet Union1st1st3rd2nd1st•2nd7thSee  Russia etc.7[upper-alpha 2]
 West Germany••11th••••See  Germany1
 Yugoslavia••••6th••See  FRY /  SCG etc.See  Serbia etc.1

Women's tournaments

Results summary
Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match Teams
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score 4th place
1964
Details
Tokyo
Japan		 Round-robin
(3–0)
Soviet Union
Poland		 Round-robin
(3–0)
Romania		 6
1968
Details
Mexico City
Soviet Union		 Round-robin
(3–1)
Japan
Poland		 Round-robin
(3–1)
Peru		 8
1972
Details
Munich
Soviet Union		 3–2
Japan
North Korea		 3–0
South Korea		 8
1976
Details
Montreal
Japan		 3–0
Soviet Union
South Korea		 3–1
Hungary		 8
1980
Details
Moscow
Soviet Union		 3–1
East Germany
Bulgaria		 3–2
Hungary		 8
1984
Details
Los Angeles
China		 3–0
United States
Japan		 3–1
Peru		 8
1988
Details
Seoul
Soviet Union		 3–2
Peru
China		 3–0
Japan		 8
1992
Details
Barcelona
Cuba		 3–1
Unified Team
United States		 3–0
Brazil		 8
1996
Details
Atlanta
Cuba		 3–1
China
Brazil		 3–2
Russia		 12
2000
Details
Sydney
Cuba		 3–2
Russia
Brazil		 3–0
United States		 12
2004
Details
Athens
China		 3–2
Russia
Cuba		 3–1
Brazil		 12
2008
Details
Beijing
Brazil		 3–1
United States
China		 3–1
Cuba		 12
2012
Details
London
Brazil		 3–1
United States
Japan		 3–0
South Korea		 12
2016
Details
Rio de Janeiro
China		 3–1
Serbia
United States		 3–1
Netherlands		 12
2020
Details
Tokyo		 – – 12
2024
Details
Paris

Participating nations
Legend
  • 1st – Gold medalists
  • 2nd – Silver medalists
  • 3rd – Bronze medalists
  • 4th – 4th place
  •  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
  •    – Hosts
  • = – More than one team tied for that rank
  • Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
Team
1964
(6)
1968
(8)
1972
(8)
1976
(8)
1980
(8)
1984
(8)
1988
(8)
1992
(8)
1996
(12)
2000
(12)
2004
(12)
2008
(12)
2012
(12)
2016
(12)
2020
(12)		 Total
 Algeria•••••••••••=11th=11th••2
 Argentina•••••••••••••=9thQ2
 Australia•••••••••=9th•••••1
 Brazil••••7th7th6th4th3rd3rd4th1st1st=5thQ11
 Bulgaria••••3rd••••••••••1
 Cameroon•••••••••••••=11th•1
 Canada•••8th•8th••=9th••••••3
 China•••••1st3rd7th2nd5th1st3rd=5th1stQ10
 CroatiaPart of  Yugoslavia••7th•••••1
 Cuba••6th5th5th••1st1st1st3rd4th•••8
 Dominican Republic••••••••••=11th•=5th•Q3
 GermanySee  East Germany
and  West Germany		•8th6th=9th••••3
 Great Britain••••••••••••=9th••1
 Greece••••••••••=9th••••1
 Hungary••5th4th4th••••••••••3
 Italy•••••••••=9th=5th=5th=5th=9thQ6
 Japan1st2nd2nd1st•3rd4th5th=9th•=5th=5th3rd=5thQ13
 Kenya•••••••••=11th=11th•••Q3
 KazakhstanPart of  Soviet Union•••=9th•••1
 Mexico•7th•••••••••••••1
 Netherlands•••••••6th5th••••4th•3
 North Korea••3rd••••••••••••1
 Peru•4th•7th6th4th2nd•=11th=11th•••••7
 Poland3rd3rd•••••••••=9th•••3
 Puerto Rico•••••••••••••=11th•1
 Romania4th•••8th••••••••••2
 RussiaPart of  Soviet Union4th2nd2nd=5th=5th=5thQ7
 SerbiaPart of  YugoslaviaPart of  FRY /  SCG=5th=11th2ndQ4
 South Korea6th5th4th3rd•5th8th•6th8th=5th•4th=5thQ12
 Spain•••••••8th•••••••1
 Turkey••••••••••••=9th•Q2
 UkrainePart of  Soviet Union=11th••••••1
 United States5th8th•••2nd7th3rd7th4th=5th2nd2nd3rdQ12
 Venezuela•••••••••••=11th•••1
Discontinued nations
 Czechoslovakia•6th7th•••••See  Czech Republic and  Slovakia2
 East Germany•••6th2nd•5thSee  Germany3
 Soviet Union2nd1st1st2nd1st•1st2ndSee  Russia etc.7[upper-alpha 2]
 West Germany••8th••6th•See  Germany2

Medal table
  • Defunct NOCs are shown in italic.

Total
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Soviet Union74112
2 Brazil53210
3 United States33410
4 Japan3339
5 China3126
6 Cuba3025
7 Russia1326
8 Netherlands1102
9 Poland1023
10 FR Yugoslavia /
 Serbia and Montenegro		1012
11 Italy0336
12 East Germany0202
13 Bulgaria0112
 Czechoslovakia0112
15 Peru0101
 Serbia0101
 Unified Team0101
18 Argentina0011
 North Korea0011
 Romania0011
 South Korea0011
Totals (21 nations)28282884

Medal table, men
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Brazil3306
2 Soviet Union3216
3 United States3025
4 Russia1124
5 Japan1113
6 Netherlands1102
7 FR Yugoslavia /
 Serbia and Montenegro		1012
8 Poland1001
9 Italy0336
10 Czechoslovakia0112
11 Bulgaria0101
 East Germany0101
13 Argentina0011
 Cuba0011
 Romania0011
Totals (15 nations)14141442

Medal table, women
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Soviet Union4206
2 China3126
3 Cuba3014
4 Japan2226
5 Brazil2024
6 United States0325
7 Russia0202
8 East Germany0101
 Peru0101
 Serbia0101
 Unified Team0101
12 Poland0022
13 Bulgaria0011
 North Korea0011
 South Korea0011
Totals (15 nations)14141442

MVP by edition

Win-loss records

Men's tournament
TeamMatches playedWinsLossesWinning percentage
 Algeria606.000
 Argentina472225.468
 Australia18414.222
 Belgium927.222
 Brazil1056441.610
 Bulgaria603228.533
 Canada22715.318
 China1239.250
 Cuba472225.468
 Czechoslovakia372413.649
 East Germany16115.688
 Egypt20119.050
 France23914.391
 Germany1138.273
 Great Britain505.000
 Greece633.500
 Hungary945.444
 Iran624.333
 Italy795128.646
 Japan563224.571
 Libya505.000
 Mexico14014.000
 Netherlands452619.578
 Poland563125.554
 Romania22148.636
 Russia483216.667
 Serbia1138.273
 Serbia and Montenegro[upper-alpha 1]22157.681
 South Korea511635.314
 Soviet Union[upper-alpha 2]514110.804
 Spain1349.308
 Sweden734.429
 Tunisia33132.030
 United States794732.595
 Venezuela514.200
 West Germany615.167
 Yugoslavia633.500

Women's tournament
TeamMatches playedWinsLossesWinning percentage
 Algeria10010.000
 Argentina514.200
 Australia514.200
 Brazil674522.672
 Bulgaria532.600
 Cameroon505.000
 Canada15114.067
 China603921.650
 Croatia844.500
 Cuba523715.712
 Czechoslovakia1248.333
 Dominican Republic1138.273
 East Germany1578.467
 Germany21714.333
 Great Britain514.200
 Greece514.200
 Hungary1578.467
 Italy281414.500
 Japan684127.603
 Kazakhstan514.200
 Kenya10010.000
 Mexico716.143
 Netherlands211110.524
 North Korea532.600
 Peru371225.462
 Poland1798.530
 Puerto Rico505.000
 Romania1046.400
 Russia422913.690
 Serbia19712.368
 South Korea682741.397
 Soviet Union[upper-alpha 2]37325.865
 Spain404.000
 Turkey523.400
 Ukraine505.000
 United States744331.581
 Venezuela505.000
 West Germany1028.200

See also

Notes
  1. Serbia and Montenegro's total includes two appearances as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1996 and 2000.
  2. Soviet Union's total includes one appearance as Unified Team in 1992.

References
  1. Black Belt Vol. 2, No. 2. Active Interest Media, Inc. Mar 1964. p. 27. Sone Kaminaga black belt.
  2. "FIVB - London 2012 Olympic Games". www.fivb.org. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  3. "Brazil make triumphant return to the top of the podium". FIVB.org. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  4. "USA grab men's bronze with fantastic comeback". FIVB.org. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  5. "Brazil wins women's volleyball gold". espn.go.com. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  6. "China crowned champions in Rio de Janeiro". FIVB.org. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. "Lang Ping became the first person in volleyball to win Olympic gold as player and coach". FIVB.org. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. "USA raise high wall to stop Netherlands for bronze medal". FIVB.org. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  9. "News detail - Olympic Countdown - Barcelona rocks to a Latin American rhythm - FIVB - Olympic Games - Rio 2016". rio2016.fivb.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  10. "FIVB:#Rio2016 women's #Volleyball Dream Team". fivb.com. 20 Aug 2016. Retrieved 20 Aug 2016.
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