The Olympic Games are highly regarded as the biggest sporting event in the world and you can now watch live streaming Volleyball matches online.
Volleyball has been a part of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964, while Beach Volleyball was introduced to the schedule in 1992 and has been classed as an Olympic sport since 1996.
It is believed the history of Olympic volleyball can be traced back to the 1924 Olympics in Paris, where the sport was played as part of an American sports demonstration - it was not until after World War II that it started to be considered an Olympic event.
In 1957 a special tournament was held at the 53rd IOC session in Sofia and after the tournament was deemed a success Volleyball was later introduced at the 1964 Olympic Games.
The number of teams involved in the games has grown since 1964. Since 1996, both men's and women's indoor events have 12 nations taking part and each of the five continental volleyball confederations has at least one affiliated national federation involved in the Olympic Games.
Beach volleyball was a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics, and was introduced as an official Olympic event at the next tournament four years later.
A total of 24 teams participate in each beach volleyball Olympic tournament. Teams qualify on the basis of their performance in FIVB events over the course of around 18 months leading up to the Olympics.
There is a limit of two teams per country, and one spot each is reserved for the host country and a randomly chosen wildcard country. In the event that any continent is not represented, the highest ranked team from that continent qualifies for the tournament.
The first ever winner of the Men’s Olympic Gold medal at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo was the Soviet Union, while Czechoslovakia and Japan picked up Silver and Bronze respectively.
Since the introduction of volleyball at the Olympic Games the Soviet Union and America have both picked up three Gold medals, while Brazil are next in line with two.
The women’s event, which also took place at the 1964 Games, was won by host nation Japan with Soviet Union coming second and Poland in third.
Since being part of the Olympics as an official sport from 1996 both formats of Beach Volleyball, men and women, have been dominated by the USA.
In 1996 the men’s final saw Americans Karach Kiraly and Kent Steffes defeat fellow countrymen Michael Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh to win Gold and since then USA have managed to scoop a further two Gold medals.
The first women’s Beach Volleyball Olympic Final was won by Brazil’s duo Jackie Silva and Sandra Pires as they defeated fellow Brazilians Adriana Samuel and Mônica Rodrigues, but America eventually claimed the upper hand by winning Gold at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing.
To watch Olympic Games Volleyball Live Streams Online follow these simple steps:
2. Sign-in or register
3. Select Live Streaming (volleyball)
4. Watch Olympic Games Volleyball Live Stream
