Quick Guide: Volleyball

Volleyball was invented in 1895 by an American physical education teacher William Morgan who wanted to find an indoor game with minimal risk of injury. He initially called the game "Mintonette".

Eurosport

Image credit: TNT Sports

Overview

When the first modern Olympics took place in 1896, volleyball was just one year old. Indoor volleyball has been an Olympic sport since 1964 and is played by teams of six over a maximum of five sets, with the first four won by the team who reaches 25 and the fifth by the team who reaches 15, though they must have a two-point advantage.

Structure

Beijing 2008

USA send Poland packing

17/08/2008 at 11:06

There are men's and women's events. The indoor competitions has 12 teams each who were decided after a number of qualification tournaments. The indoor competition is divided into two pools of six, with four progressing from each into a knockout system from the quarter-finals onwards.

Qualification

Men's qualifiers - Bulgaria, China, Italy, Japan, United States, Venezuela, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Russia, Serbia

Women's qualifiers - China, Cuba, Japan, Poland, United States, Venezuela, Algeria, Brazil, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia

Venue

Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium, Capital Indoor Stadium

Beijing 2008

Italy beat Russia in opener

09/08/2008 at 06:53

Olympic Games Paris 2024

Olympic volleyball: Why does one player in the team wear a different colour?

27/07/2024 at 14:29