FIVB

Volleyball - Men

August 29 - Finals

Brazil claim gold in magical performance

Athens, Greece, August 29, 2004 – World champions Brazil added another trophy to their burgeoning collection after winning the gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games men’s Volleyball competition with a stunning 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Italy at the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Sunday. It was a spectacular performance from the world number one team with Giba, who was voted the Most Valuable Player, Heller, Gustavo, Dante, Sergio and Ricardo all in exquisite form, posing plenty of problems for a brave Italian side, who despite claiming one set, couldn’t repeat their “perfect” semifinal performance against Russia. More Pic: Brazil celebrate victory for the gold medal

Best Players
Best Scorer: Andrea Sartoretti (Italy) Full Ranking
Best Spiker: Dante (Brazil) Full Ranking
Best Blocker: Alexey Kuleshov (Russia) Full Ranking
Best Server: Andrea Sartoretti (Italy) Full Ranking
Best Digger: Sergio (Brazil) Full Ranking
Best Setter: Ricardo (Brazil) Full Ranking
Best Receivers: Sergio (Brazil) Full Ranking
Most Valuable Player: Giba (Brazil)
Best Libero: Sergio (Brazil)

Best Scorer Andrea
Sartoretti from Italy

Bronze Medal

Gold Medal

Russia beat U.S.A. 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-16) - duration 1:24
29-Aug, start time: 12:30, end time: 13:54 - Attendance: 7'650
City: Athens; Hall : Peace and Friendship Stadium
Russia blast past USA to claim bronze
World number six Russia earned its ninth Olympic Volleyball medal in 10 trips to the Summer Games here Sunday by defeating the United States in three devastating sets for the bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Games.

Brazil beat Italy 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22) - duration 1:36
29-Aug, start time: 14:30 - Attendance: 9'350
City: Athens; Hall : Peace and Friendship Stadium
Another golden performance by Brazil
Brazil captured its second Olympic Volleyball gold medal here Sunday by downing Italy in four thrilling sets in the final match of the Athens 2004 Olympic men's Volleyball competition at the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

> Match description > Match statistics (P-2) - PDF
> Press conference

Brazil and Italy into Olympic final

ATHENS, 28 August – World champions Brazil and European champions Italy will fight it out for the Men's Volleyball gold medal on Sunday at the Peace and Friendship Stadium in a repeat of the World League final, which Brazil won 3-1 (27-25 25-19 25-27 25-17). Brazil and Italy go head-to-head at 14:30. Their match up in the preliminary round gave an insight into what one can expect in the final with Brazil claiming a breathtaking tiebreaker that finished at 33-31. Brazil have won eight of the last 10 official match ups against Italy over the past four years. More Pic: Brazil beat Italy in the Preliminary Round 3-2 (25-21, 15-25, 25-16, 21-25, 33-31)

Volleyball - Women

August 28 - Finals

China crowned 2004 Olympic champions

Athens, Greece, August 28, 2004 – World number three China pulled off a miraculous comeback from two sets down to beat Sydney 2000 silver medalists Russia 3-2 (28-30, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12) and claim the ultimate prize – the gold medal – in a stunning final at the 2004 Olympic Games women’s Volleyball competition in the Peace and Friendship Stadium on Saturday. It is China’s second Volleyball gold medal following their first triumph in 1984 and is a vast improvement on their fifth place finish in Sydney four years ago. For Russia (formerly the USSR) they miss out on their fifth women’s Olympic Volleyball gold having won the title already in 1968, 1972, 1980 and 1988 and it is their second successive silver after losing to Cuba at Sydney 2000. More Pic: China's defence was an amazing against a powerful Russian attack

Best Players
Best Scorer: Ekaterina Gamova (Russia) Full Ranking
Best Spiker: Zhang Ping (China) Full Ranking
Best Blocker: Ekaterina Gamova (Russia) Full Ranking
Best Server: Zoila Barros Fernandez (Cuba) Full Ranking
Best Digger: Stacy Sykora (USA) Full Ranking
Best Setter: Feng Kun (China) Full Ranking
Best Receivers: Zhang Na (China) Full Ranking
Most Valuable Player: Feng Kun (China)
Best Libero: Paula Cardullo (Italy)

Bronze Medal

Gold Medal

Cuba beat Brazil 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 25-17) - duration 1:41
28-Aug, start time: 18:00, end time: 19:41 - Attendance: 4'200
City: Athens; Hall : Peace and Friendship Stadium
Cuba claim bronze
Three-time defending champions Cuba rebounded from a disappointing semifinal loss to China to capture the bronze medal here Saturday by posting a four-set victory over Brazil in the 2004 women's Olympic Volleyball competition.

China beat Russia 3-2 (28-30, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, 15-12) - duration 2:19
28-Aug, start time: 20:10, end time: 22:29 - Attendance: 4'242
City: Athens; Hall : Peace and Friendship Stadium
China new Olympic champions
World number three China won its second Olympic gold medal in women's Volleyball by out-lasting Russia in an astonishing five set thriller lasting two hours and six minutes on Saturday.

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Beach Volleyball Men

No.	GMT		Team A	Team B	Result	Duration
No.	Date	Time	Team A	Team B	Result	Duration
GOLD MEDAL MATCH
52	25 Aug	21:00	Ricardo-Emanuel BRA [1]	Bosma-Herrera ESP [15]	2-0 (21-16, 21-15)	0:42
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
51	25 Aug	19:30	Heuscher-Kobel SUI [5]	Prosser-Williams AUS [17]	2-1 (19-21, 21-17, 15-13)	1:01
SEMIFINALS
50	23 Aug	21:00	Bosma-Herrera ESP [15]	Prosser-Williams AUS [17]	2-0 (21-18, 21-18)	0:45
49	23 Aug	22:00	Ricardo-Emanuel BRA [1]	Heuscher-Kobel SUI [5]	2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-12)	1:00
QUARTERFINALS
48	22 Aug	16:44	Prosser-Williams AUS [17]	Dieckmann-Scheuerpflug GER [11]	2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-10)	1:02
47	22 Aug	23:00	Bosma-Herrera ESP [15]	Child-Heese CAN [20]	2-1 (22-24, 21-19, 18-16)	1:07
46	22 Aug	14:30	Heuscher-Kobel SUI [5]	Holdren-Metzger USA [12]	2-0 (21-16, 21-19)	0:43
45	22 Aug	21:00	Ricardo-Emanuel BRA [1]	Laciga M.-Laciga P. SUI [3]	2-0 (21-13, 21-16)	0:38

Top-Seeded Brazilians Earn Validation, Olympic Gold Medal

Athens, Greece, August 25, 2004 - After two disappointing Olympics, Emanuel Rego finally realized his "dreams" on a sand court in Greece as he teamed with Ricardo Santos to win a gold medal for Beach Volleyball power Brazil here Wednesday before another sell-out at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre. Seeded first in the 24-team for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Emanuel and Ricardo scored a 21-16 and 21-15 win over Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera of Spain in 42 minutes to validate their performance the past two seasons as the No. 1-ranked team in the world. More Pic: Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego celebrate claiming gold

Beach Volleyball Women

No.	GMT		Team A	Team B	Result	Duration
No.	Date	Time	Team A	Team B	Result	Duration
GOLD MEDAL MATCH
52	24 Aug	21:00	Walsh-May USA [1]	Adriana Behar-Shelda BRA [2]	2-0 (21-17, 21-11)	0:43
BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
51	24 Aug	19:30	McPeak-Youngs USA [4]	Cook-Sanderson AUS [5]	2-1 (21-18, 15-21, 15-9)	1:11
SEMIFINALS
50	23 Aug	19:00	Cook-Sanderson AUS [5]	Adriana Behar-Shelda BRA [2]	0-2 (17-21, 16-21)	0:42
49	23 Aug	20:00	Walsh-May USA [1]	McPeak-Youngs USA [4]	2-0 (21-18, 21-15)	0:41
QUARTERFINALS
48	22 Aug	15:30	Ana Paula-Sandra Pires BRA [3]	Adriana Behar-Shelda BRA [2]	1-2 (21-15, 13-21, 13-15)	0:59
47	22 Aug	22:00	Perrotta-Gattelli ITA [14]	Cook-Sanderson AUS [5]	1-2 (16-21, 21-14, 12-15)	1:03
46	22 Aug	18:01	Pohl-Rau GER [8]	McPeak-Youngs USA [4]	0-2 (17-21, 17-21)	0:43
45	22 Aug	20:00	Walsh-May USA [1]	Dumont-Martin CAN [16]	2-0 (21-19, 21-14)	0:38

USA Nets Athens Gold & Bronze Medals

Athens, Greece, August 24, 2004 - After not medalling in the first two women's Olympic Beach Volleyball competitions in Atlanta and Sydney, the United States captured two podium spots here Tuesday at the Athens 2004 Games. Fourth-seeded Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs were the first American team to win a Beach Volleyball medal match as they scored a 21-18, 15-21 and 15-9 win over fifth-seeded Natalie Cook and Nicole Sanderson in 71 minutes to net the bronze medal before a capacity crowd of 10,000 at the Olympic Beach Centre. More USA's Kerri Walsh (left) and Misty May celebrate with fans

FIVB News

President Acosta announces his decision to continue at the head of the largest sports organization in the world (FIVB) after 2006

Athens, Greece, August 16, 2004 – Dr. Rubén Acosta, the President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), the largest sports organization in the world with 218 national federations and 35 million licensed players, announced his decision to stand for reelection as FIVB President at the 2006 World Congress in Japan.
Dr. Acosta, who was first elected as President of the FIVB in 1984 in Los Angeles, made the announcement at an official meeting held on Monday with FIVB Executive, Board and other FIVB members.
All the members present unanimously applauded Dr. Acosta’s decision to serve the FIVB in the future and congratulated him for his huge leadership and enormous personal contribution to Volleyball and Beach Volleyball.
Among his numerous achievements is the constitution of a financial reserve for the FIVB of US$120million.