This time, we will take a brief look back at the men's volleyball competition at the recently concluded Paris Olympics, and what kind of tournament it was.
Review of the results
Ranking
Winner: France (2nd time in a row)
Runner-up: Poland
3. America
4th place: Italy
5. Slovenia
6th place: Germany
7. Japan
8th place: Brazil
9th place: Serbia
10. Canada
11th place: Argentina
12th place: Egypt
Individual Awards
Best outside hitter: Engapé (France, 2nd time in 2 consecutive tournaments), Clévenot (France, 1st time)
Best Middle Blocker: Kochanowski (Poland, 1st), Avril (USA, 1st)
Best Opposite: Patry (France, 1st)
Best setter: Brizard (France, 1st)
Best Libero: Grebennikov (France, 2nd time in 2 consecutive tournaments)
MVP: Engapé (France, 2nd time in 2 consecutive tournaments)
A high-level tournament rarely seen in recent years
Of the 12 teams participating in this tournament, 11 of them, excluding Egypt, were in the top 11 teams in the world rankings.The level of these 11 teams was also very close, meaning that all teams had a realistic chance of winning a medal, making this a rare high-level tournament with many strong competitors.
In fact, compared to the past three tournaments, there were fewer matches that ended in straight sets, and more matches went to full sets (see table).
| Number of matches | 3-0 | 3-1 | 3-2 | |
| London 2012 | 38 | 24(63%) | 9(24%) | 5(13%) |
| Rio 2016 | 38 | 23(61%) | 12(31%) | 3(8%) |
| Tokyo 2020 | 38 | 17(45%) | 10(26%) | 11(29%) |
| Paris 2024 | 26 | 10(38%) | 7(27%) | 9(35%) |
Impact of the change in match format
There is a new method for dividing the pool qualifying rounds for this tournament.
Until the last tournament, the teams were divided into two pools of six each, and the top four teams from each pool advanced to the quarterfinals. However, from this tournament, the format has changed to three pools of four teams each, and the top eight teams from all pools advance to the quarterfinals.
This was apparently intended to reduce the number of matches in order to ease the burden on the players, but it could also be said that it has narrowed the chances of teams that barely made it through the qualifiers going on to win medals.
In fact, France and Brazil, which won gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016, finished fourth in their qualifying pools, while Italy and Russia, which won bronze medals at London 2012 and Athens 2004, also finished fourth in their qualifying pools.
The format of two pools of 12 teams, with the top four from each pool progressing to the final tournament, was introduced at Barcelona 1992, but in every tournament up to Tokyo 2020, except for Beijing 2008, one of the two teams that finished in fourth place has advanced to the quarterfinals.
However, at Paris 2024, Brazil and Japan, who finished third in their qualifying pools (7th and 8th overall), both lost in the quarterfinals.
In previous two-pool systems, even if you advanced in fourth place you would have won at least two games, but in this three-pool system, if you advanced in third place you could only win one game, so I think this is because the team was not in good form as they reached the quarterfinals.
Personally, for me, the best part of the Olympics is seeing teams rise from the bottom of the qualifying rounds, so I'm sad that we will likely be seeing this less and less in the future.
Host nation strength
The tournament ended with France winning their second consecutive title.
In the qualifying pool, they did not start off well, winning their first match against Serbia in full sets, but then losing again to Serbia in full sets. However, in the quarterfinals, they made a huge comeback from 0-2 down to beat Germany, and then showed even more strength in the semifinals and finals, defeating both in straight sets to win the gold medal.
There is no doubt that overcoming a huge hurdle as a team in the quarterfinals was one of the factors that led to the boost they received from the semifinals onwards, but the support from the local crowd was also a great source of support.
I was only able to watch the final match against France in person, but there was a strong French home feeling and the whole stadium was in a festive mood of support for France, so I felt that once France gets on a roll, it will be very difficult to change that atmosphere.
In fact, the host country has never lost in the final of the Olympic men's volleyball tournament. This made me think again about the fact that we should never face the host country in the final.
Incidentally, it has been 36 years since the last time a team won two consecutive Olympic gold medals, since the United States won in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988. Ngape's success in winning the MVP award at two consecutive tournaments was a historic first.
Poland breaks the "quarter-final curse"
Poland had participated in every Olympic Games since Athens 2004 as a medal contender, but until Tokyo 2020 they had lost in the quarterfinals every time, which was referred to domestically as the "quarterfinal curse."
However, in this tournament, they defeated Slovenia in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, freeing them from the 20-year curse. Captain Kurek, who had competed in four consecutive tournaments since London 2012, collapsed to the floor in joy. Later, during an interview on Polish television, a reporter handed him a piece of paper with the words "Quarterfinal Curse" written on it in Polish, and he performed a skit in which he crumpled it up and threw it away (laughs).
Olympics without Russia
Paris 2024 will be the second Olympics without Russia (the Soviet Union) after Los Angeles 1984, when they boycotted the Games.
The reason, of course, is the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.
Russia is a strong country that has made it to the top four (with one gold, two silver and two bronze finishes) in six consecutive Olympic Games from Sydney 2000 to Tokyo 2020. Including the era of the Soviet Union, Russia has only missed out on a medal in three Olympic Games it has participated in: Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Rio 2016. It has won a total of 11 medals, far outnumbering second-place Brazil and others with six medals.
The members of the team that won the silver medal at Tokyo 2020 were mainly born in 1995, the same year as Japan's Ishikawa, so it is not difficult to imagine that if they had been able to participate in the Paris Olympics, the balance of power would have been significantly changed.
The players are not at fault, so I hope that the war will end as soon as possible and that Russian volleyball players will be able to return to the international stage as soon as possible.
[PR] "ALL for DREAM -Footsteps to Glory- Japan Volleyball National Team Nations League 2024" will be available on U-NEXT from July 27th (Sat.)
A documentary program that closely follows the unknown behind-the-scenes of the "Volleyball Nations League 2024" and traces the fierce battles will be streamed on U-NEXT.
[Distribution date and time]
July 27th (Saturday) 5pm Boys #1 Boys #2
August 3rd (Saturday) 5pm Women's #1
Saturday, August 10th 5pm Women's #2
Saturday, August 24th 5pm Men's #3
Saturday, August 31st 5pm Women's #3
September 7th (Saturday) 5pm Men's #4
Saturday, September 14th 5pm Women's #4
(Quoted from TBS TV release)
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Photo: Volleyball World
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