Twenty years later – Atlanta validation for Kiraly & Steffes

Lausanne, Switzerland, July 27, 2016 – Twenty years ago today on July 28 on a man-made “beach” south of the Georgia capital of Atlanta, Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes validated the belief that the United States men were the best in the world as the pair won five-straight matches in the 1996 Olympic Games highlighted by a convincing victory over the Mikes (Dodd and Whitmarsh) in the All-American finale.

With Beach Volleyball making its Olympic debut at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games, Americans dominated the men’s competition with three teams finishing among the top five finishers led by the 35-year old Kiraly and 28-year old Steffes.  If you add in John Child and Mark Heese of Canada, North Americans finished 1-2-3 in the inaugural even along with a fifth-place by Carl Henkel and Sinjin Smith of the United States.

Kiraly and Steffes’ 12-5, 12-8 gold medal win in 62 minutes came a day after an All-Brazilian women’s finale where Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva posted a 12-11, 12-6 win in 69 minutes over compatriots Monica Rodrigues and Adriana Samuel.  The All-American finale also soften the disappointment of women’s effort in Atlanta where the United States finished fourth, fifth and ninth at Clayton County International Park in Jonesboro, Georgia.

Although it might be disputed by the Mikes and the Canadians, the real match of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games was the All-American men’s quarter-final.  Before dealing with the “greatest match ever played”, Kiraly and Steffes opened Olympic play by defeating Andrea Ghiurghi/Nicola Grigolo of Italy 15-7 and Jorg Ahmann/Axel Hager of Germany 15-5 in their first two matches.  To reach the gold medal match, the Americans bested Child and Heese 15-11.

While most events focus on the “final four” matches as the “best of the best”, the men’s quarterfinal match featuring the American domestic leaders Kiraly and Steffes versus Henkel and Smith ranks as one of the most memorable in the sport’s history.  The match pitted two fierce rivals as Smith helped usher Beach Volleyball into the Olympics working with the FIVB and then president Ruben Acosta while Kiraly was the face of the American domestic tour and at odds with international federation about who should control the sport.

It was an unforgettable Beach Volleyball match as Kiraly and Steffes eventually won the 54-minute match 17-15 as there was plenty emotion on the sand and in the grandstands where more than 7,000 crazed fans watched the epic confrontation.  All eyes seemed to be on Kiraly and Smith as Steffes and Henkel were almost seen as spectators.

On the web in “Volleyball Thoughts by Mark Lebedew”, here is how the Kiraly vs. Smith rivalry was described.  

“Kiraly and Smith were childhood friends.  The played Volleyball together at UCLA.  As Beach Volleyballers they won together at the age of 19.  In his book Spike! Doug Beal describes Smith as ‘only wanting to play with his friend …

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