Beijing in perspective: USA shines brightest, 'Ze Roberto' makes history as Volleyball and Beach Volleyball enjoy their most successful Olympic Games ever
The U.S. Men kept the momentum from their FIVB World League triumph in Rio in July in their run to the gold-medal match, where they beat 2004 Athens champions Brazil for their first Olympic title in 20 years.
Their female compatriots surprised many with their own run to the final and but for the world No. 1 Brazilians -- as close to perfection as could be throughout the tournament, dropping just one set in the final to USA -- it would have been a clean golden sweep for America.
The Americans had two non-natives to thank for their success: Men’s Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon of Christchurch, New Zealand, and women’s Head Coach “Jenny” Ping Lang, the former Chinese National Team player and Head Coach known as the “Iron Hammer” who played and won against USA in 1984, the American Women’s only previous attempt at gold.
It was an astonishing turnaround for the U.S. players and testament to the strength of the coaches’ mental and tactical strengths. The men’s team had just two years before finished in 10th place in the FIVB World Championships and World League, while the women’s team ended up ninth at the 2006 World Championships.
The Brazilian Women, meanwhile, had Head Coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes to thank for their omnipotent performance. “Ze Roberto” became the first coach to lead teams to Olympic gold in both the men’s and women’s tournaments following his Barcelona 1992 triumph with the Brazil Men’s team.
In Beach Volleyball, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh successfully defended their Athens Olympic title by beating Jia Tian and Jie Wang in the women’s final. As in Athens, May-Treanor shared the victory with her late mother, Barbara, after casting some of her mother’s ashes into the wind and sand of Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground in remembrance.
USA pair Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers followed their compatriots’ victory by beating Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz in the men’s final, recovering magnificently from their opening-day loss to Latvia’s Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs.
Both Dalhausser, nicknamed “The Thin Beast,” and May-Treanor were awarded as their respective tournaments’ Most Outstanding Players.
The Americans also were there or thereabouts in Volleyball when it came to handing out the awards. USA’s Clayton Stanley was named men’s MVP and best scorer, while Logan Tom was best scorer in the women’s tournament.
The 26-year-old Brazilian Paula Pequeno was the women’s MVP, while two even younger players also caught the eye in Beijing. Russia’s 20-year-old Maxim Mikhaylov finished in second place behind Stanley in the best scorer’s chart and the 203-cm attacker impressed throughout. China’s 20-year-old wing-spiker Yimei Wang, meanwhile, finished just behind Tom in the scoring charts.
The Chinese emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Beach Volleyball in front of their home fans, with women’s pairs Tian and Wang claiming silver and Xi Zhang and Chen Xue taking bronze. In the men’s Beach Volleyball tournament, Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz finished ahead of Athens Olympic winners and compatriots Emanuel and Ricardo, as Brazil showed they remain one of the dominant forces in the game.
Success and the attendant excitement on-court led to television ratings for Olympic Volleyball and Beach Volleyball going through the roof once more.
TV analysis makers CSM Media Research reported that the women’s Volleyball match between China and Cuba was one of the most-watched sports events on domestic television during Beijing 2008, with close to 356 million viewers tuning in for the game on China’s CCTV-1.
The Pool A Preliminary Round match between China and Cuba had a television ratings share of 11.9 percent. In comparison, the China-USA men’s basketball match on CCTV-2 on Sunday, August 10, had a television rating of 7.8 percent.
Meanwhile, never before in the history of Beach Volleyball had a match received so much attention as when American television channel NBC aired unprecedented live coverage without interruption of the gold-medal match featuring May-Treanor and Walsh.
May-Treanor’s and Walsh’s gold-medal win captured the imaginations of the American public, the two players feted in the press for their achievements and both now on their way to becoming fully-fledged stars in their country. Indeed, May-Treanor has just been chosen for U.S. television channel ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” program.
While fans were tuning in around the world in huge numbers, tens of thousands of spectators took in the action at the three venues – Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium and Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground. Scattered among the legions of fans were some rather familiar faces, with Volleyball and Beach Volleyball two of the hottest tickets in town for VIPs and celebrities.
People’s Republic of China President Hu Jingtao watched the women’s Volleyball match between China and USA, while U.S. President George W. Bush dropped by Chaoyang Park at the start of the tournament and played a quick rally with May-Treanor and Walsh.
Other politicians who enjoyed the action included Serbia President Boris Tadic, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and China Vice President Xi Jinping.
Keen Volleyball and Beach Volleyball fan Albert II, Prince of Monaco, attended a number of matches in his role as an International Olympic Committee Member, King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden and his wife, the Brazilian-born Queen Silvia, watched the women’s match between Brazil and Italy, while King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway were seen taking in the Beach Volleyball. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men, also attended a weekend session of men’s Volleyball at Capital Indoor Stadium.
Major sporting figures were also conspicuous by their presence. Formula One motor racing President Bernie Ecclestone and his wife Slavica watched the men’s Serbia-Germany match and the keen Volleyball fans were back to watch the action two days later, while NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd took time out from their own Olympic aspirations to check out the Beach Volleyball. They must have been inspired – days later they won basketball gold for America.
Olympic firsts included referees Karin Zahorcova and Janpen Jirakakul becoming the first two women officials to referee an Olympic match together. Czech Republic’s Zahorcova, 43, was in the chair as first referee for the women’s match between Italy and Algeria, with Thailand’s Jirakakul second referee.
There were “lasts” to go with the firsts. German Men’s Head Coach Stelian Moculescu stepped down from his position, while Polish Men’s Head Coach Raul Lozano intimated he would do the same. Brazil’s brilliant blocker Gustavo Endres said he had played his last game of Volleyball after the final loss to USA. Italian Massimo Menghini refereed his last match in the women's gold-medal contest as first referee.
Never to be forgotten are the terribly sad cases of Taismary Aguero and U.S. Head Coach McCutcheon. Cuban-born Italian international Aguero learned of her mother’s serious illness at the start of the tournament and attempted to return to Cuba for the first time in eight years to visit her. But before she could catch a flight, the news came through that her mother had died. About the same time, McCutcheon learned that his father-in-law Todd Bachman had been killed and mother-in-law seriously injured in a tragic incident in Beijing. Both showed remarkable strength of character to return to their respective teams.
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