Questions asked and questions answered as curtain falls on Rio 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 22, 2016 – Just two short weeks ago, on the opening day of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, we posed questions awaiting answers ahead of the volleyball action. With the Games of the XXXI Olympiad now wrapped up, these questions have finally found their answers.Can Brazil’s women match the record of Cuba with a third straight gold medal? No. Brazil crashed out of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games early, devastating the nation after going down to China in the quarterfinals. It meant the two-time gold medallists, who had totally dominated pool play with an absolute perfect record, weren’t around for the medals round.Cuba had dominated the world volleyball scene in the 1990s, collecting straight Olympic gold medals in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. They remain the only country to have ever won three gold in a row.Only Russia (including the USSR) have won more gold medals than Cuba for a total of 4 -but never three in a row.Cuba’s Taimaris Auguero and Regla Torres block Germany’s Sylvia Roll in Sydney 2000. The Caribbean side remains the only one wit three gold in a row.Can Sergey Tetyukhin win an unprecedented fifth Olympic medal?No – but came ever so close when Russia led USA by two sets to none in the bronze medal game of Rio 2016, only for the Americans to come back and snatch the medal out of the Russians’ hands.Tetyukhin made his Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996 (finishing 4th with Russia) and has competed in all Games since, picking up a silver in Sydney 2000, a couple of bronze in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, and capping it all with a gold at London 2012. No volleyball player, male or female, has gone to a fifth medal.Apart from Tetyukhin, only another three have won four: Cuba’s Ana Fernandez (gold in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, and bronze in Athens 2004); Italy’s Samuele Papi (silver in Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 and bronze in Sydney 2000 and London 2012); and the USSR’s Inna Ryskal (gold in Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972, and silver in Tokyo 1964 and Montreal 1976).However, the 40-year-old captain of the defending Olympic Champions beacame a six-time Olympian on 7 August when Russia took to the court at the Maracanazinho against Cuba for their first Rio 2016 match. This matched the record held by another Russian – Yevgeniya Artamonova.Sergey Tetyukhin in Russia’s opening match against Cuba, …

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