History of Men’s Volleyball in the Olympic Games

Volleyball is the sport that has a long and interesting history. The history of volleyball began 120 years ago. The game of volleyball was created by William G. Morgan in 1895. Initially, the game of volleyball was known as “Mintonette”. However, later the game of volleyball got a new name. So, it is known as volleyball these days.

At present, volleyball is considered to be one of the most popular world’s sports. It is worth noting that volleyball is particularly popular in the United States. Today’s statistical data show that approximately 46 million of US citizens play volleyball on a regular basis.

Volleyball is also known as one of the most popular recreational sports at the moment. So, more and more middle-aged men play volleyball games for recreational purposes. It is not a surprise that playing both indoor and beach volleyball delivers multiple benefits. That’s why even some world’s famous athletes prefer to include the game of volleyball in their training programs. That means that practicing digging, setting as well as spiking volleyball drills have become a part of their workouts.

Talking about the most significant events which took place in the history of volleyball it is necessary to emphasize on the 1964-th year. The point is that indoor volleyball was introduced to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. So, the history of volleyball in the Olympic Games began.

There are two types of volleyball games. These are indoor volleyball and beach volleyball. Both indoor volleyball and beach volleyball have become Olympic sports. Today, we are going to talk about the histories of both men’s indoor and beach Olympic volleyball tournaments.

The History of Men’s Indoor Olympic Volleyball Championships

If we analyze the history of men’s indoor volleyball in the Olympic Games we will see that the best results have been demonstrated by teams of the following countries: the United States, Brazil, Russia, Netherland, Poland and Yugoslavia. The statistical data shows that men’s indoor volleyball teams of these countries have shown the best results and won a lot of medals in the Olympic Games.

The men’s indoor volleyball teams of Soviet Union and the United States won competitions many times. Obviously, the Soviet Union team was dominant at the beginning of the men’s Olympic volleyball history. So, the Soviet Union won the first men’s Olympic volleyball competitions in Tokyo. In the next five men’s Olympic volleyball competitions the Soviet Union won five medals as well. Totally, the Soviet Union men’s team won three gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal. The United States won men’s indoor volleyball Olympic competitions three times as well.

Without a doubt, the sport of indoor volleyball has gained huge popularity among men in different countries of the world. That’s why we want to give readers a short insight into the history of men’s indoor volleyball in the Olympic Games.

Since the beginning of men’s Olympic indoor volleyball history the Soviet Union team won competitions 3 times. According to the statistics, the Soviet Union indoor volleyball team won Olympic medals in 1964, 1968 and 1980.

As it was mentioned above, the US men’s team has also demonstrated excellent results in indoor volleyball Olympic competitions. So, if we analyze the history of men’s indoor Olympic volleyball we will see that the United States won the Olympic competitions in 1984, 1988 and 2008. So, the Soviet Union and the United States were serious competitors for each other.

Brazil has succeeded in indoor volleyball as well. Brazil men’s indoor volleyball team has won the gold medals in the Olympic Games two times. Brazil was the winner of men’s indoor volleyball Olympic competitions in 1992 and 2004.

Japan won the men’s indoor volleyball Olympic Games in 1972.

Poland men’s indoor volleyball team took the first place in the Olympic Games in 1976.

Netherlands men’s team won the gold medal in indoor volleyball Olympic Games in 1996.

Yugoslavia men’s team became the champion of indoor volleyball Olympic Games in 2000.

The last indoor volleyball Olympic Games took place in London in 2012. Russia and Brazil were competing against each other in the final match. Russia won the indoor volleyball Olympic competitions for the first time in the history of men’s volleyball. Italy won the bronze medal.

The History of Men’s Beach Olympic Volleyball Championships

Initially, people played indoor volleyball only. However, the new style of volleyball was introduced to the public in the 1940s. At present, the new style is known as beach volleyball. There are many differences between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball games. The main difference is that beach volleyball is played on sand court while indoor volleyball game is played on indoor areas. A beach volleyball team consists of two players only while an indoor volleyball team has 6 players. Despite the fact that beach volleyball has been recently discovered, the game quickly developed and gained the huge popularity all over the world.

At present, a lot of young, middle age and old people play beach volleyball worldwide. Moreover, the number of beach volleyball players is increasing year after year. Today, a lot of beach volleyball tournaments are organized in different countries every year. Like indoor volleyball, beach volleyball has interesting history as well.

Talking about the most important events which took place in the history of beach volleyball it is important to focus on the 1943-th year. The point is that the first beach volleyball competitions were organized in 1943. The tournament took place at State Beach, California.

Another important event in the history of beach volleyball took place in 1965. This year the California Beach Volleyball Association was established. This organization was responsible for creating rules of beach volleyball game and organizing beach volleyball competitions. In 1983, the Association of Volleyball Professionals was established by men. It was men’s beach volleyball association. In 1987, the first world beach volleyball tournament was organized. However, only 2-player men’s teams participated in the first world beach volleyball championship. Later, 4-player beach volleyball became popular as well.

As a result, beach volleyball became hugely popular in the United States and other countries of the world. As we can see, beach volleyball became even more popular than indoor volleyball. It is interesting to know that even some of indoor volleyball stars began to play beach volleyball.

In 1993, beach volleyball was particularly popular in the United States. A lot of people played the game of beach volleyball on sand beaches of California and Florida. Afterwards, beach volleyball also became popular in other US states. So, people began to play beach volleyball even in the areas which don’t have beaches. Sometimes even indoor arenas were reconstructed and filled with sand to be used for playing beach volleyball. National television in the United States began to broadcast beach volleyball competitions in 1993.

Afterwards, beach volleyball became Olympic sport. As it is known, the 1996-th year played a key role in the history of men’s beach volleyball. In 1996, the sport of beach volleyball was introduced on the Olympic Games in Atlanta. So, the history of men’s beach Olympic volleyball tournaments began.

Beach volleyball teams from the United States, Brazil and Germany demonstrated the best results and won a lot of medals in the men’s beach Olympic tournaments.

The US men’s beach volleyball team won the first Olympic tournament that took place in 1996.

United States also won the second men’s beach volleyball Olympic championship that took place in 2000.

Brazil team won the third men’s beach volleyball Olympic tournament that took place in 2004.

However, Brazil men’s beach volleyball team was the Olympic champion only one time in the history. The United States won men’s beach volleyball tournament in the Olympic Games 2008.

The last men’s beach volleyball Olympic tournament took place in London in 2012. Brazil vs Germany was the final beach volleyball game of Olympic Games 2012. As a result, for the first time in the history of men’s beach Olympic volleyball tournaments Germany won the gold medal on Olympic Games. Latvia took the third place in London Olympic Games 2012.