Women's Volleyball in the Olympics

Following the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, much of the volleyball world was talking about the dynamic women's beach duo of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. But women have been playing volleyball at the Olympics for more than 40 years. Except for the height of the net, the women's game is basically the same as the men's--though one could argue that the dress code of the beach games brought a whole new dimension for the spectators.

  1. History

    • Indoor volleyball became an Olympic sport in 1964 at the games in Tokyo, Japan.
      The American women's team finished fifth overall.

      Beach volleyball was made an Olympic event at the games in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996.

      American women first won a medal, a silver, at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. The prize was somewhat dubious, however, since countries like the U.S.S.R. and Cuba, both with top-ranked teams, boycotted the games. May-Treanor and Walsh won the first medal for American beach teams, a gold, in 2000 at Athens, Greece.

    Court and Scoring

    • Volleyball in the Olympics is governed by the International Federation of Volleyball, or FIVB. Court size and basic rules of play are the same for men's and women's games, but the height of the net is 7 feet 4-1/8 inches for women and 7 feet 11-5/8 inches for men.

      Olympic competitions use rally point scoring, which means that a point is scored on every serve. The indoor game uses a best of five format, while the beach game is a best of three. The first team to 25 points (21 in the beach version) with at least a two-point advantage wins over the first four games. If a fifth game is needed, the winner is the first to reach 15 with at least a two-point advantage.

    Indoor Format

    • Twelve teams, including one from the host country, play in Olympic indoor competition. The 12 teams are split into two "pools," based on its FIVB ranking. A country will play each team in its pool and the four with the best records move on to the next round. In that round, the top team from one pool plays the fourth-place team from the other. The second-place from one pool plays the third-placed team in the other. The winners of these games then play in the medal round, with the top teams playing for gold and silver and the other two playing for bronze.

    Beach Format

    • Beach games are played with two players on each side (compared to six for the indoor game). There are 24 teams, with the host country guaranteed one spot and the other 23 teams chosen based by points earned in FIVB Olympic qualification tournaments. Each country is allowed up to two entries.

      Teams are placed in pools of four teams each, who play one match against one another. The bottom team is eliminated. The other 18 play a single-elimination tournament, with teams matched up by ranking (No. 1 plays No. 18, No. 2 plays No. 17 and so on). The top two teams play in the gold medal match, and the semi-final losers play for the bronze.

    Popularity

    • Beach volleyball, in particular, has achieved a strong following. Despite some complaints that the bikinis players wore were a little too small, the sport was such a hit at the Olympics that ESPN soon offered regular coverage of its professional tour.