Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball

Men's Olympic records waiting to fall

What to watch out for as the Tokyo 2020 men's tournament gets underway

Published 09:00, 22 Jul 2021

Bartosz Kurek (POL)

The ultimate sporting competition of the world is upon us as the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 get underway on Saturday after a year's delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. And so many records are there to be equalled or smashed.

Nine players have broken the 30-point mark in scoring in a single match at the Olympic Games. No one has done it twice - but two, Poland's Bartosz Kurek and Maxim Mikhalyov of ROC, will be at Tokyo to try and get their names for a second time on the board.

The record to beat here is held by Germany's Gyorgy Grozer, who fired off as many as 39 (29/57 for 51% in attack, 7 blocks and 3 aces) against Serbia in pool play at the London 2012 Olympics.

30+ men's scoring performances in a single Olympic Games match

Pts
Player
Ctry
versus
Games
39
Gyorgy Grozer
GER
v SRB (3-2)
London 2012
36
Bartosz Kurek
POL
v RUS (2-3)
Rio 2016
34
Shin Jin-Sik
KOR
v RUS (2-3)
Sydney 2000
31
Rafael Pascual
ESP
v NED (1-3)
Sydney 2000
31
Marcos Milinkovic
ARG
v POL (2-3)
Athens 2004
31
Maxim Mikhaylov
RUS
v USA (3-2)
Beijing 2008
31
Dmitriy Muserskiy
RUS
v BRA (3-2)
London 2012
30
Richard Schuil
NED
v BRA (1-3)
Athens 2004
30
Piotr Gruszka
POL
v ARG (3-2)
Athens 2004

Despite this performance, Grozer was not the overall best scorer of the London 2012 Games. That distinction went to Maxim Mikhaylov with 148 points. The 33-year-old is back this year at Tokyo 2020 in a bid to better the all-time Olympic record of 150 points registered by Argentina's Marcos Milinkovic at Sydney 2000.

Also back this year is Brazil's Wallace de Souza, top scorer of the Rio 2016 Games as he led his side to the Olympic title.

Top scorers at Olympic Games men's volleyball

Games
Player
Ctry
Points
Sydney 2000
Marcos Milinkovic
ARG
150
Athens 2004
Andrea Sartoretti
ITA
137
Beijing 2008
Clayton Stanley
USA
146
London 2012
Maxim Mikhaylov
RUS
148
Rio 2016
Wallace de Souza
BRA
147

Also up for grabs at Tokyo 2020 are records in individual scoring skills.

Alexey Kuleshov stuffed his opponents nine times as he led Russia to a 3-1 win over USA at Athens 2004, and this blocking record for a single match still stands, 17 years later. As a team effort, Bulgaria registered 22 blocks against Japan at Beijing 2008.

But the most prolific blocker overall at an Olympic Games is Brazil's Gustavo Endres with 29 blocks at Beijing 2008 for an average per set of 1.04. Artem Volvich, who is returning this year for Russia, had 27 blocks (.90 per set) at Rio 2016.

GalleryPic

Russia's Artem Volvich at Rio 2016 - the best blocker of those Games is back again this year at Tokyo 2020.

Three players jointly hold the serving record for a single match at the Olympics. Cuba's Angel Davis (against Australia in a straight-set win at Sydney 2000), USA's Clayton Stanley (against Russia in a 3-2 win at Beijing 2008) and Italy's Christian Savani (against Bulgaria in a 3-1 win at London 2012) served seven aces each.

Savani's overall record of 20 aces (.69 per set) at London 2012 remains the one to beat - and fellow Italian Ivan Zaytsev who was best server at Rio 2016 with 14 aces (.48 per set) will be on hand at Tokyo to try and do just that.

ItalianIvanZaytsevreactsafterthelossofapoint

Italy's Ivan Zaytsev was best server of the Rio 2016 Olympics and returns this year to try and beat his own personal best.

Most aces by a team in a single Olympic Games match is 12, by Brazil against Italy (3-2) in Athens 2004 and by Russia against Germany (3-2) in Beijing 2008.

All records are since the introduction of the rally-scoring system, as of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

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