Volleyball Gone Platinum: my opinions on

I'm writing this less than ten minutes after seeing Regla Torres slam down gold medal point in the most spectacular ending for a match that I have ever seen. In '88 it was a floppy Soviet block, in '92 a Russian shank, and in '96 a Cuban tool off of the Chinese setter. But the last point of the 2000 Olympic final was hands down AMAZING—we have to give the Cubans a lot of credit for this. After the Russians attacked, their hit was deflected by the Cuban block and was easily returned to the hands of setter Taimarys Agüero. She then did her usual "hop-and-rotate" set (somewhat reminiscent of Soviet Irina Parkhomchuk) and quickly set Regla Torres behind her in a backward loop.

No small feat. Cuba's joy was celebrated, justified, and now etched in the annals of volleyball history. [Photo: Mauro de Sanctis, FIVB Photographer]

Torres jumped with one foot and with no Russian block before her, slammed the ball as hard as I've ever seen her do. With that, Cuba made a real statement: they will undoubtedly receive the title of "Team of the Century", with three consecutive Olympic titles ('92, '96, 2000), three World titles ('78, '94, '98), four consecutive World Cups ('89, '91, '95, '99), and two Grand Prix ('93, '99). These achievements are so incredible to believe that they seem like typos BUT THEY'RE NOT. Cuba was the best volleyball team of the 20th Century, and they're set to dominate even more as we go into the 21st!

The FIVB underwent numerous criticism for their various rule changes in the beginning:

• First the rally scoring system was said to have eliminated an essential component of the sport: the sideout for serve. Traditionalists warned that it would kill the essence of volleyball, but as we have seen now, they have been proved wrong.
• The introduction of the "libero" was blasted even before it quickly became a worldwide hit. They said it would make the rest of the players one-sided and not emphasise defensive skills, but with the popularity of this coveted position, EVERYONE wants to be a libero nowadays! Playing gutsy defence has become a trendy thing to do, and not just a relegate position for those too short to play at the net.
• The concept of "let serve" seemed like a blasphemy at first, but soon it became fair to grant the Serve the same possibility to touch the net and still make a point as any Attack enjoys. It's all about equality...
• And last but not least, those skin-tight uniforms, which teams like Italy and especially the USA had condemned as yet another "exploitation of women" for marketing's sake have now become the norm. There are more "normal" alternatives to choose from, such as the Chinese, Croatian, Korean, and Brazilian uniforms, but the USA and Italy shone snuggly clad in the outfits that they once dreaded to wear.
• Add Beach Volleyball as another rapidly rising form of the sport in countries of any latitude and the FIVB has a double hit in its hands. Volleyball has gone platinum.

USA's Millar hitting against Argentina's Milinkovic in pool play; the former team a disappointment, the latter a surprise. [Mauro de Sanctis: FIVB]

The men's final is tomorrow and fortunately even their part of the sport has been boosted by the rule changes. Once feared as a sport that was becoming boring because of its short rallies and shorter matches, men's volleyball has benefitted from rally scoring, the libero, and let serve even more than the women's game has. Four perfect examples are the quarterfinal matches in Sydney: two of them went five sets, with Russia and Yugoslavia edging Cuba and The Netherlands 15-13 and 17-15, respectively. The changes have also given the underdogs more chances to win, or at least to steal a set or two. Newcomer Australia stole a set from Italy (after beating Spain for the right to play the world's #1), and in the surprise of the tournament, Argentina edged out its continental rivals in four sets to advance to the semifinals. A perfect revenge for the Olympic qualification match that they barely lost to Brazil in São Paulo, with two sets going over 30 points.

In Sydney, Argentina had the last laugh, showing Brazil that their hard-earned alternate path to the Olympics hadn't drained them of any energy for their encounter. Korea almost upset Russia in pool play though managing to beat the USA (like it did at the '99 World Cup). And Italy, oh sad Italy, was once more denied Olympic gold by succumbing to their always defiant Yugoslav rivals in the semis. After losing the first two sets by over-25 scores, the Italians were dispirited by the third set and just dropped it like a rock in water. Whoever wins tomorrow, Russia or Yugoslavia, certainly had to sweat it hard to get there.

One thing I noticed from Sydney was that many protagonists from world tournaments long past were present in 2000. For the women, several players from Seoul '88 were either competing or assisting their coaches: Croatia's Yelena Chebukina had been the gold-medal Soviet middle blocker in Seoul. Her teammate then, Valentina Ogienko, was now Nikolai Karpol's right arm for the Russian team. Assisting Peru's Korean coach Man Bok Park was Gina Torrealva, who played in the thrilling Seoul final against Ogienko. In Sydney as in Seoul, Park coached Peruvians Rosa García and Natalia Málaga twelve years later in much evolved Olympic circumstances. The best blocker from the '88 Olympics, East Germany's Susanna Lahme, was one of fin-de-siècle Germany's most mature weapons in Sydney. China's Wu Dan made a comeback from years off the National Team and won a spot to go to Australia; she had been one of China's most fresh attackers in Seoul. And for Cuba, Mireya Luis (though barely playing in Sydney) was still on the roster and served as the team's off-court emotional leader. Though she didn't go to Seoul, she starred at the '86 World's, during the times when China was the undisputed world power in volleyball. How times have changed since then! For the men, Argentina's Hugo Conte was the tournament's oldest player at 37 but he certainly held his own against the young blood out there. His teammate in Seoul and at the '90 World's, setter Waldo Kantor, was the assistant coach in Sydney. Cuba's Raúl Diago was still setting after his Vice-championship at the '90 World's. Also from that tournament a decade ago were Russia's Ruslan Olikhver, Italy's Andrea Gardini, Paolo Tofoli, and Andrea Giani, Brazil's Giovane, Tande, and Maurício, and The Netherlands' Peter Blangé.

As is always the case in countries where volleyball is not a priority, I had to limit my Olympic exposure to Canada's separate English or French CBC Radio Canada broadcasts, which I must confess, were still infinitely better than those of the USA's NBC. For one, the Canadian station broadcast the events LIVE, even if they were at 3 in the morning. NBC was showing edited highlights of the events with as much as 20 hours of delay!! Also, CBC showed a bit of several matches, not only because Canada wasn't present in the competition, but because they have a tradition of covering the Olympics as a whole, not just what relates to them directly. On the other hand, NBC only showed the USA's matches and then the final match, with our without the USA. So for the past two weeks, I literally slept with a miniature black and white TV by my bed, and somehow, my subconscious would always wake me up when I heard the commentators going off about gymnastics, volleyball, tennis, or swimming. Even though I haven't seen many of the teams in action, god bless the internet for readily available information vis-à-vis the shortcomings of television!

I had put my expectations on two teams: Brazil and Korea. Both are middle-of-the-road teams, somewhere between swift and strong, and combining both with creativity. Brazil had quite an easy run in its Group, losing only one set to the USA. Virna was back from the injury that hindered her at the Grand Prix. Léila and Erika were unstoppable. Not much was heard about the middles, Janina, Walewska, or Karin. But since they were winning easily, I assume everyone was playing well and Fofão was distributing the offence intelligently. Korea however, had a much harder time, barely squeaking past Italy in five sets, and getting pummeled by Russia and Cuba. My initial prediction had been that Korea would finish third and would face Croatia in the quarterfinal.

The importance of experience. During time-outs, Tara Cross-Battle was the voice of solidness. Danielle Scott (to her right) was the second in seniority and the team's go-to hitter. The rest of the team was composed of eager, energetic, youthful players (from left to right: Logan Tom, Kerri Walsh, Heather Bown, and marvellous little setter, Robyn Ah Mow). [Source un-known yet.]

But Group A had a surprise underdog in the USA, magnificent in their victories over China and Croatia. Losing to Brazil, the USA placed second in their group and faced the Koreans in the quarterfinal. I saw that match, again waking up in the wee hours of the morning to tune in to Canada's CBC in English (where the commentators were especially harsh in criticising the USA players... how odd. Canadian rivalry?) and I stayed up for all five sets with the pillow in my face! I admit that the absence of Chang Yoon-Hee diminished my rooting for Korea a bit, but her replacement, Chung, was phenomenal on the outside. Korea was digging balls left and right, but for the USA Danielle Scott and Logan Tom were ready to deliver.

Strangely, in the fifth set I was torn between my favoured Koreans and the USA underdogs, especially Logan Tom, who seems to have charmed her way into everyone's minds at these Olympics. The 19 year-old was everything Tara Cross-Battle struggled to be: strength, guts, wits, and passion. But Cross-Battle's presence was important because she kept her younger teammates calm, and with Scott pounding and blocking so well at the net, the USA played Korea eye to eye. In the last set, the USA was not only playing stronger than Korea, but their defence was as spectacular as that of the Asians! Led by libero Stacy Sykora, they produced wonderful digs at crucial times of the set, and Kerri Walsh's two consecutive digs to erase the 10-12 deficit were the source of articles and headlines all over the internet. By playing the Koreans at their own game, they managed the victory, and I couldn't help being happy for them. They came in ranked 10th in the world and suddenly they were going to the semifinals! Sadly for the Koreans, this defeat cost them more than their energy, but also their spirit. They dropped their next match against China in four sets and then lost to Croatia to end up in 8th place. Not the ending they expected when they had a 12-9 lead in the fifth set against the USA and they were aiming for at least a respectable fourth place. But as has happened with the Koreans before (namely, the '98 World's), as soon as they derail they tend to fall badly. But I know they'll be back, and hopefully, with a slight edge over the rest.

Cruel unravelling. Peru's once-glorious Olympic past crumbled under pressure. Without the glue to hold old and young together (or the collective guts to win, as in the case of the USA), Peru had a dismal featuring in Sydney. [Mauro de Sanctis: FIVB]

As for the other teams in the tournament, my home team Peru was one sorry competitor. I only saw the last points against Cuba, and frankly, there was only one good thing that emerged from this horrible experience: Yesenia Uceda, a virtually unknown reserve player, seemed to be the only player with any spunk on the team. The rest of the players were soul-less. Veterans Rosa García and Natalia Málaga were given bad marks by the Peruvian and international media. It is clear that their time has passed and they're competing just to do their country a service. (Both have announced their retirement after Sydney.)

Considering that they have been on the international scene since THE EARLY EIGHTIES (and according to Peru's El Comercio both of them were reserves in the Moscow Olympics—could that be true??!!), our two silver-medalists from Seoul couldn't deliver twelve years later—but then again, who could be expected to? However, it's not only their fault, but that of the rest of the players as well, who apparently committed too many foolish mistakes. They fell to the lowest by losing to Italy and Germany in straight sets, supposedly the only teams that they were supposed to beat to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. After the Germany match, the team fell to internal bickering, pointing fingers, and a battered dignity, but then faced Korea and Cuba and stole a set from each one. How odd, they played their worse against the middle teams, and their best with the teams that eventually creamed them. I don't know how they beat Cuba in the first set—it seems so surreal!

I was checking the virtual scoreboard on the Sydney website, and I couldn't believe it! Peru won the first set 25-23??? HUH???

 My reaction upon entering the site was very funny: the first thing I saw was a webcam image featuring a dark-skinned player in a tight white uniform celebrating the set victory. I thought she was one of the Cubans! Later I realised it was Peru's Uceda, and when I looked at the score favourable for Peru, I thought, "What a strange Olympics these are." Indeed they were, for only by hitting its lowest did Peru bounce back to show some substance against Korea and Cuba. How times have changed. Once upon a time we were medal-contenders; now, winning a set here and there gives us the bittersweet hope that the flame isn't completely extinguished.

The Germans proved to be stronger than people had thought. They prevented Italy from going to the quarterfinals, and took Russia to a fifth game before giving in to the Slavs. China was a disappointment, and after dropping its matches against the USA and Croatia, many thought this would be as bad as Barcelona. The absence of Lang Ping on this team was most notable. The results were so clear: WITH Lang Ping they were title contenders in Atlanta '96 and the '98 World's; WITHOUT her they were a middle-tier team with no cohesion and underachieving players like the once formidable Sun Yue, as well as Qiu Aihua, Wu Yongmei, and Wang Lina. As for the Croats, we might as well call Barbara Jelic her own former Yugoslav republic because she was more than half of the team's offence! As the stats rolled out, she remained the tournament's top scorer, as in the '98 World's and many other international competitions she's been in. Unstoppable against China and Korea, she was a giant all her own. The USA and Brazil, however, did manage to silence her machine gun of an arm, but Barbara Jelic still has years ahead of her to keep on shining.

Aside from the USA-Korea quarterfinal, the other crossover matches were not as eventful. But the semifinals were loaded with emotion. The Brazil-Cuba encounter, which sparked so much bad blood between these two teams in Atlanta, was feared as a possible repeat of history. No one wanted those fights to break out again but the match was inevitably going to be emotional so everyone just waited to see what would happen. Cuba won the first set by very little, then Brazil won the next two. Cuba came back to win the fourth in such a convincing way that one could see the momentum on their side.

At least there was no fighting. Léila looks back at her teammates as she senses that the match is slipping from her hands. The Cubans celebrate wildly, though much more civil when facing the net. [Source yet unknown]

The fifth set showed Cuba on a roll, and soon the defending champions had eliminated Brazil once again at the doors of the gold medal match. For the Brazilians it was a disappointment once again, to fall into the same place, by the same adversary, four years later. If there was one consolation, however, it was that the match was carried out in a much more civilised manner than that of Atlanta. Regla Torres was quoted as saying that there used to be problems between them and the Brazilians, but that those problems were no longer there. Has she matured or did she just say that because she won? On the NBC Olympics website, one of their regular correspondents (I think it was Chris Marlowe) wrote that the Brazilians were crying so much and so long after their semifinal loss that he was confident that the USA would defeat the South Americans for the bronze.

Before I go into the bronze medal match, let me tell you about the other semifinal. I woke up once again, somewhere between 4 and 4:30 in the morning, to the sound of volleyball commentators IN ENGLISH. Since it was the USA versus Russia, the English half of CBC Radio Canada broadcast the match. In the first set the Russians PUMMELLED the USAmericans mercilessly. Several things came to my mind, but most notably a tennis match between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis. Williams, being the strongest one, often starts her matches with ruthless power and precision. Hingis, who is more finesse than strength, seems absolutely overpowered by Williams and gets wiped out in the first set. You think, "Damn, this match is going to be really short." You turn the TV off and go do something else instead of witnessing the carnage. When your curiosity decides to check how bad Hingis lost by, you find out they're in the third set tie-breaker! But how?? The same thing happened between the USA and Russia. The North Americans, whom nobody gave a penny for them making the semis, were too raw and nervous to overcome the strength of the Russians. I mean, Artamonova was hitting OVER Danielle Scott, that's how serious it was. But somehow, as things began to work for the USA, the Russians began to despair. It didn't help that Russian coach Nikolai Karpol was yelling in the face of his players as usual. When CBC returned to the semifinal several sets later (I was fuming), the USA had just stolen the 4th set by very little and they entered the fifth with a lot more spirit and celebration than the Russians. The Slavs were petrified, they didn't know what to do! How could they be challenged by the #10 team in the world? How could they be on the verge of losing this match and NOT playing for the gold? At what point had they lost control? Who was going to step up and lead them to their expected victory? Karpol had reinserted Yelena Vassilievskaya, who wasn't being at all creative in her setting. Was the Russian offence back to square one? Again, I felt silly for THINKING during pool play that the Russian volleyball had evolved into a faster style. But as the fifth set progressed, it was clear that the USA was the more inspired team. The commentator even blamed Karpol for taking away the burning desire to win from his players, and I think he was right. The more he unleashed his anger on the Russians, the more conservatively they played and with nervous mistakes here and there (mostly on defence) they began to lose the fifth and final set. Nevertheless, the Russians relied on two stuff blocks to get their act together. A couple more stuff blocks and they knew they were superior. By the time they seized the momentum of the set, the USA ran out of options. Tara Cross-Battle had been stuffed and silenced. Logan Tom and the rest of the new Olympians tried their best but their inexperience drew the line. Only Danielle Scott was producing, but even so, the Russians were all over her by then. Appropriately, they stuffed Scott for match point and that was the end of the dream for the USA. Still, they were a HANDFUL of points away from the gold medal match, and that in itself was an achievement worth of praise.

With most of the Brazilians in tears from losing their semifinal, the USA thought they had a mental edge over the South Americans. Some of the USAmericans had been spotted sobbing after their semifinal defeat, namely Stacy Sykora and to a lesser extent Logan Tom. But when it was time for the bronze medal match the USA was overpowered by the Brazilians, who won their second consecutive bronze medal. The Brazilians looked really happy in the photos, but how happy could they really have been by ending up in the same place four years later? Not better, not worse, but the same.

Though the conditions surrounding their third place victories were different, I think the happiness came mostly from the players who HADN'T been in Atlanta, especially Walewska, Erika, Elisângela, Ricarda, and Raquel. Only three starters from the '96 Olympics were present in Sydney: Fofão, Léila, and Virna. The rest were full-blooded, eager young players who earned their spot amongst the best in the world. But for the three veterans, it was back to the usual order of international volleyball: Cuba/Russia, and everybody else. Fofão, whom many Brazilians thought wasn't as adequate a starting setter as Fernanda, seemed to match her predecessor's Olympic record, but not surpass it. Oh well, maybe history is better left this way, with both setters to be remembered for their equal achievements. As for the USA, they ended up in a most respectable fourth place, with Danielle Scott figuring as the tournament's best blocker. Kerri Walsh also did a great job blocking on the opposite, Heather Bown was a commanding presence in the middle, Stacy Sykora was a solid defensive player with a lot of heart, and Robyn Ah Mow led her team to the top four with a playfulness and trickery that hasn't been seen since Debbie Green. And of course there was Logan Tom, the revelation of the tournament, the Olympic rookie to be remembered for her Sydney performance. Who knows, maybe Sydney has served to catapult her to all-time greatness in the future.