Volleyball at the Summer Olympics

Origins

The history of Olympic volleyball can be traced back to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where it was an unofficial 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 International Olympic Committee attempted to drop volleyball for the 1968 Olympics, but this was met with protest.^[1][2]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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".^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Events

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 in 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.^[3]

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.^[4] The United States pulled off a comeback from a 0–2 deficit to claim the bronze medal with a victory over Russia.^[5]

The 2020 tournament, held in 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic causing a delay, had the French team of Earvin N'Gapeth win its first gold by defeating the Russian Olympic Committee, who returned to the podium after missing out in 2016.^[6] In a repeat of the 1988 bronze medal match, Brazil were upset by neighbor Argentina.^[7]

Gold medals appear to be more evenly distributed in men's volleyball than in women's: the former Soviet Union (three titles), United States (three), Brazil (three), and France (two) are the only teams to have won the tournament more than once. The remaining six editions were won each by a different country. Despite having been a major force in men's volleyball since the 1990s and never missing a tournament since 1976, Italy are the only volleyball powerhouse that lack a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Women's winners

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, who would become the next dominating force.

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 could not neutralize 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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] China also became the first team to win the Olympics after losing three matches in the preliminary round. The United States defeated the Netherlands 3–1 to capture the bronze medal.^[11]

In the fifteenth edition of the games in 2020, the United States faced Brazil for the third final in four editions, only this time they broke the long title drought. Thus the Americans became only the sixth country to win the women's tournament, after Brazil, China, Cuba, Japan, and the former Soviet Union.^[12] Serbia got the bronze, beating South Korea.^[13]

Results summary

More information Year, Host ...

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	Czechoslovakia		Japan	Round-robin	Romania		10
1968 Details	Mexico City		Soviet Union	Round-robin	Japan		Czechoslovakia	Round-robin	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		Yugoslavia	3–1	Russia		12
2000 Details	Sydney		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		France	3–2	ROC		Argentina	3–2	Brazil		12
2024 Details	Paris		France	3–0	Poland		United States	3–0	Italy		12
2028 Details	Los Angeles										12

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Medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Brazil	3	3	0	6
2	Soviet Union	3	2	1	6
3	United States	3	0	3	6
4	France	2	0	0	2
5	Russia	1	1	2	4
6	Japan	1	1	1	3
7	Netherlands	1	1	0	2
	Poland	1	1	0	2
9	Yugoslavia	1	0	1	2
10	Italy	0	3	3	6
11	Czechoslovakia	0	1	1	2
12	Bulgaria	0	1	0	1
	East Germany	0	1	0	1
	ROC	0	1	0	1
15	Argentina	0	0	2	2
16	Cuba	0	0	1	1
	Romania	0	0	1	1
Totals (17 entries)		16	16	16	48

Close

Participating nations

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
•  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
•    – Hosts
• = – More than one team tied for that rank
• Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament

More information Team, Total ...

Team	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024	2028	Total
Algeria	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	12th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Argentina	•	•	•	•	•	6th	3rd	•	8th	4th	=5th	•	=5th	=5th	3rd	11th		9
Australia	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th	=11th	•	=9th	•	•	•		3
Belgium	•	8th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Brazil	7th	9th	8th	7th	5th	2nd	4th	1st	5th	6th	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	4th	8th		16
Bulgaria	5th	6th	4th	•	2nd	•	6th	•	7th	•	•	=5th	4th	•	•	•		8
Canada	•	•	•	9th	•	4th	•	10th	•	•	•	•	•	=5th	8th	10th		6
China	•	•	•	•	•	8th	•	•	•	•	•	=5th	•	•	•	•		2
Cuba	•	•	10th	3rd	7th	•	•	4th	6th	7th	•	•	•	=11th	•	•		7
Egypt	•	•	•	WD	•	10th	•	•	•	=11th	•	=11th	•	=9th	•	12th		6
France	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th	11th	•	•	=9th	•	•	=9th	1st	1st		6
Germany	See  East Germany and  West Germany							•	•	•	•	=9th	=5th	•	•	6th		3
Great Britain	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	•	•		1
Greece	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=5th	•	•	•	•	•		1
Hungary	6th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Iran	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=5th	9th	•		2
Italy	•	•	•	8th	9th	3rd	9th	5th	2nd	3rd	2nd	4th	3rd	2nd	6th	4th		13
Japan	3rd	2nd	1st	4th	•	7th	10th	6th	•	•	•	=11th	•	•	7th	7th		10
Libya	•	•	•	•	10th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Mexico	•	10th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	•		2
Netherlands	8th	•	•	•	•	•	5th	2nd	1st	5th	=9th	•	•	•	•	•		6
Poland	•	5th	9th	1st	4th	•	•	•	=11th	•	=5th	=5th	=5th	=5th	5th	2nd		11
Romania	4th	•	5th	•	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		3
Russia	See  Soviet Union								4th	2nd	3rd	3rd	1st	4th	2nd	•		7[A]
Serbia	See  Yugoslavia							See  Serbia and Montenegro				=5th	=9th	•	•	9th		3
Slovenia	Part of  Yugoslavia							•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	5th		1
South Korea	10th	•	7th	6th	•	5th	11th	9th	=9th	=9th	•	•	•	•	•	•		8
Spain	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th	•	=9th	•	•	•	•	•	•		2
Sweden	•	•	•	•	•	•	7th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Tunisia	•	•	12th	•	•	9th	12th	•	=11th	•	=11th	•	=11th	•	11th	•		7
United States	9th	7th	•	•	•	1st	1st	3rd	=9th	=11th	4th	1st	=5th	3rd	10th	3rd		14
Venezuela	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	•	12th	•		2
Discontinued nations
Czechoslovakia	2nd	3rd	6th	5th	8th	•	•	•	See  Czech Republic									5
East Germany	•	4th	2nd	•	•	•	•	See  Germany										2
Serbia and Montenegro	See  Yugoslavia							•	3rd	1st	=5th	See  Serbia						3[B]
Soviet Union	1st	1st	3rd	2nd	1st	•	2nd	7th	See  Russia									7[C]
West Germany	•	•	11th	•	•	•	•	See  Germany										1
Yugoslavia	•	•	•	•	6th	•	•	See  Serbia and Montenegro				See  Serbia						1
Total	10	10	12	10	10	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Close

Results summary

More information Year, Host ...

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	Soviet Union		Poland	Round-robin	Romania		6
1968 Details	Mexico City		Soviet Union	Round-robin	Japan		Poland	Round-robin	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		United States	3–0	Brazil		Serbia	3–0	South Korea		12
2024 Details	Paris		Italy	3–0	United States		Brazil	3–1	Turkey		12
2028 Details	Los Angeles										12

Close

Medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	4	2	0	6
2	China	3	1	2	6
3	Cuba	3	0	1	4
4	Japan	2	2	2	6
5	Brazil	2	1	3	6
6	United States	1	4	2	7
7	Italy	1	0	0	1
8	Russia	0	2	0	2
9	Serbia	0	1	1	2
10	East Germany	0	1	0	1
	Peru	0	1	0	1
	Unified Team	0	1	0	1
13	Poland	0	0	2	2
14	Bulgaria	0	0	1	1
	North Korea	0	0	1	1
	South Korea	0	0	1	1
Totals (16 entries)		16	16	16	48

Close

Participating nations

Legend

• 1st – Champions
• 2nd – Runners-up
• 3rd – Third place
• 4th – Fourth place
•  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
•    – Hosts
• = – More than one team tied for that rank
• Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament

More information Team, Total ...

Team	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024	2028	Total
Algeria	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	=11th	•	•	•		2
Argentina	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	11th	•		2
Australia	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Brazil	•	•	•	•	7th	7th	6th	4th	3rd	3rd	4th	1st	1st	=5th	2nd	3rd		12
Bulgaria	•	•	•	•	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Cameroon	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	•		1
Canada	•	•	•	8th	•	8th	•	•	=9th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		3
China	•	•	•	•	•	1st	3rd	7th	2nd	5th	1st	3rd	=5th	1st	9th	5th		11
Croatia	Part of  Yugoslavia							•	•	7th	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Cuba	•	•	6th	5th	5th	•	•	1st	1st	1st	3rd	4th	•	•	•	•		8
Dominican Republic	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	=5th	•	8th	8th		4
France	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	11th		1
Germany	See  East Germany and  West Germany							•	8th	6th	=9th	•	•	•	•	•		3
Great Britain	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	•	•		1
Greece	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	•	•	•	•		1
Hungary	•	•	5th	4th	4th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		3
Italy	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	=5th	=5th	=5th	=9th	6th	1st		7
Japan	1st	2nd	2nd	1st	•	3rd	4th	5th	=9th	•	=5th	=5th	3rd	=5th	10th	9th		14
Kazakhstan	Part of  Soviet Union								•	•	•	=9th	•	•	•	•		1
Kenya	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	=11th	•	•	•	12th	12th		4
Mexico	•	7th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Netherlands	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	6th	5th	•	•	•	•	4th	•	10th		4
North Korea	•	•	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Peru	•	4th	•	7th	6th	4th	2nd	•	=11th	=11th	•	•	•	•	•	•		7
Poland	3rd	3rd	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	•	•	6th		4
Puerto Rico	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	•		1
Romania	4th	•	•	•	8th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		2
Russia	See  Soviet Union								4th	2nd	2nd	=5th	=5th	=5th	7th	•		7[A]
Serbia	See  Yugoslavia							See  Serbia and Montenegro				=5th	=11th	2nd	3rd	7th		5
South Korea	6th	5th	4th	3rd	•	5th	8th	•	6th	8th	=5th	•	4th	=5th	4th	•		12
Spain	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
Turkey	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=9th	•	5th	4th		3
Ukraine	Part of  Soviet Union								=11th	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		1
United States	5th	8th	•	•	•	2nd	7th	3rd	7th	4th	=5th	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd		14
Venezuela	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	=11th	•	•	•	•		1
Discontinued nations
Czechoslovakia	•	6th	7th	•	•	•	•	•	See  Czech Republic									2
East Germany	•	•	•	6th	2nd	•	5th	See  Germany										3
Soviet Union	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	1st	•	1st	2nd	See  Russia									7[C]
West Germany	•	•	8th	•	•	6th	•	See  Germany										2
Total	6	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Close

Men's tournament

More information Team, Matches played ...

Team	Matches played	Wins	Losses	Winning percentage
Algeria	6	0	6	0.0%
Argentina	55	27	28	49.1%
Australia	18	4	14	22.2%
Belgium	9	2	7	22.2%
Brazil	113	69	44	61.1%
Bulgaria	60	32	28	53.3%
Canada	28	9	19	32.1%
China	12	3	9	25.0%
Cuba	47	22	25	46.8%
Czechoslovakia	37	24	13	64.9%
East Germany	16	11	5	68.8%
Egypt	20	1	19	5.0%
France	31	14	17	45.2%
Germany	11	3	8	27.3%
Great Britain	5	0	5	0.0%
Greece	6	3	3	50.0%
Hungary	9	4	5	44.4%
Iran	11	4	7	36.4%
Italy	85	55	30	64.7%
Japan	62	35	27	56.5%
Libya	5	0	5	0.0%
Mexico	14	0	14	0.0%
Netherlands	45	26	19	57.8%
Poland	62	35	27	56.5%
Romania	22	14	8	63.6%
Russia[A]	56	38	18	67.9%
Serbia	11	3	8	27.3
Serbia and Montenegro[B]	22	15	7	68.1%
South Korea	51	16	35	31.4%
Soviet Union[C]	51	41	10	80.4%
Spain	13	4	9	30.8%
Sweden	7	3	4	42.9%
Tunisia	38	1	37	2.7%
United States	84	49	35	58.3%
Venezuela	10	1	9	10.0%
West Germany	6	1	5	16.7%
Yugoslavia	6	3	3	50.0%

Close

Women's tournament

More information Team, Matches played ...

Team	Matches played	Wins	Losses	Winning percentage
Algeria	10	0	10	0.0%
Argentina	10	1	9	10.0%
Australia	5	1	4	20.0%
Brazil	75	52	23	69.3%
Bulgaria	5	3	2	60.0%
Cameroon	5	0	5	0.0%
Canada	15	1	14	6.7%
China	65	41	24	63.1%
Croatia	8	4	4	50.0%
Cuba	52	37	15	71.2%
Czechoslovakia	12	4	8	33.3%
Dominican Republic	17	5	12	29.4%
East Germany	15	7	8	46.7%
Germany	21	7	14	33.3%
Great Britain	5	1	4	20.0%
Greece	5	1	4	20.0%
Hungary	15	7	8	46.7%
Italy	34	17	17	50.0%
Japan	73	42	31	57.5%
Kazakhstan	5	1	4	20.0%
Kenya	15	0	15	0.0%
Mexico	7	1	6	14.3%
Netherlands	21	11	10	52.4%
North Korea	5	3	2	60.0%
Peru	37	12	25	46.2%
Poland	17	9	8	53.0%
Puerto Rico	5	0	5	0.0%
Romania	10	4	6	40.0%
Russia[A]	48	32	16	66.6%
Serbia	27	13	14	48.1%
South Korea	76	31	45	40.8%
Soviet Union[C]	37	32	5	86.5%
Spain	4	0	4	0.0%
Turkey	11	5	6	45.5%
Ukraine	5	0	5	0.0%
United States	82	50	32	61.0%
Venezuela	5	0	5	0.0%
West Germany	10	2	8	20.0%

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