Lausanne, Switzerland, 11th December 2000 - Triple Olympic gold medallists
Karch Kiraly of the United States and Cuba's Regla Torres, have been
selected as the best Volleyball players of the 20th Century, the
International Volleyball Federation announced today.
The FIVB Grand Jury chose Kiraly and Torres after careful consideration
given to various criteria.
Roll of honour
BEST VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE 20th CENTURY, MEN:
KARCH KIRALY (USA 1984-1996) for his performances and courage in leading
the USA National Men's team to win among others, the Olympic Gold Medal in
Los Angeles 1984, the World Cup title in Tokyo 1985, the World
Championship title in Paris 1986, the Olympic Gold Medal in Seoul 1988 and
winning the Gold Medal of the new FIVB Olympic Event Beach Volleyball in
the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, having Ken Steffes as team mate.
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
Konstantin REVA (URSS 1949-1956) and Katsutoshi NEKODA (Japan 1965-1974)
for their unique performance and contribution to the world wide success of
their teams and Volleyball popularity.
BEST VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE 20th CENTURY, WOMEN:
REGLA TORRES (CUBA 1992-2000) for her athletic performances, courage and
endurance in leading the CUBA National Women's team to win most of the
world Volleyball tournaments played between 1992 and 2000, including three
consecutive Olympic Gold Medals in Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney
2000; the World Championship titles in Brazil 1994 & Tokyo 1998 and the
World Cup titles in Tokyo, 1995 and 1999.
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
Ina RISKAL (URSS 1964-1976) Olympic Gold Medals 1968/1972 & World
Championship title 1970 and Lang PING (CHINA 1981-1985) Olympic Gold Medal
1984, World Championship title 1982 and World Cup Titles 1981/1985 for
their outstanding performances and contribution to the world wide
Volleyball popularity.
BEST MEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM OF THE 20th CENTURY:
ITALY (1990-1998), for the teams best results, endurance and top level
long lasting performances world wide shown to the crowds between 1990 and
1998, winning for the first time three consecutive World Championship
titles in Rio de Janeiro 1990, Athens 1994 and Tokyo 1998; winning the
World Cups in 1995 plus Olympic Silver Medal in Atlanta 1996 and winning
the World League pennants in 1990, 1991, 1992,1994, 1995,1997.
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
USA Men's Team (1984-1988) Los Angeles and Seoul Olympic Gold Medalists,
1985 World Cup winner and 1986 World Champion.
BEST WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM OF THE 20th CENTURY:
JAPAN (1960-1965), for the team's endurance, top level performances,
fighting spirit shown to the crowds and world wide popularity between 1960
and 1965 winning the World Champions title in Moscow 1962, the first ever
Olympic Gold in Tokyo 1964 and the world admiration during exhibition
tours in 1965 and still 1966, making Volleyball a symbol of women's
achievement in sports.
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
CHINA (1981-1986) winner of the 1981 & 1985 World Cups, 1982 & 1986 World
Championships and 1984 Olympic Gold Medal.
BEST MEN'S TEAM VOLLEYBALL COACH OF THE 20th CENTURY:
MATSUDAIRA Yasutaka (JAPAN 1964-1974) for his famous eight years plan to
win the Olympics, his methodical training, team results, innovations and
creativeness contributed to the technical development of Volleyball and
opened the way for Japan Olympic Gold Medal in Munich 1972 after winning
Bronze in Tokyo 1964 and Silver in Mexico 1968. The systematic use of
quick spikes and time differential spikes by players like Messrs. Morita,
Nakamura and Oko contributed to build spectacular Volleyball.
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
Vyacheslav PLATONOV (URSS 1978-1982) and Julio VELASCO (ITALY 1990-1996)
for their outstanding performances, creativity and contribution to the
success of their teams.
BEST WOMEN'S TEAM VOLLEYBALL COACH OF THE 20th CENTURY:
GEORGE Eugenio (CUBA 1990-2000) for his results, stability, athletic focus
in training and creative coaching led the Cuban teams to build several
generations of excellent players and gave birth to one of the most
successful Volleyball teams of the 20th Century, victor in two consecutive
World Championships (1994 & 1998), four consecutive World Cups (1989,
1991, 1995, 1999) and three consecutive Olympic Gold Medals (1992, 1996,
2000).
SPECIAL 20th CENTURY AWARD is granted to:
Hirofumi DAIMATSU (JAPAN 1960-1964) and Givi AKHVLEDIANI (URSS 1960-1972)
for their outstanding performances and contribution to the world wide
Volleyball popularity.
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