The United States won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and continued on an upward trend by winning three straight editions of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League, and bronze and silver medals at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup and FIVB World Cup, respectively.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball
USA to chase missing Olympic medal as women's tournament begins
The three-time VNL champions begin their Olympic quest on Sunday
Published 03:30, 24 Jul 2021
USA will start another Olympic campaign with the aim of winning gold – the only missing medal in their collection – after collecting three silver medals (Los Angeles 1984, Beijing 2008 and London 2012) and two bronze medals (Barcelona 1992 and Rio 2016).
The North American side will face South American squad Argentina in the second match of the women’s competition at 11.05 on Sunday, following the opening match between ROC and Italy at 09.00.
Three-time Olympian Nataliya Goncharova heads ROC’s tall arsenal of players, while Olympic flag bearer Paola Egonu will play in her second Olympics leading a relatively young Italian squad.
After winning the 2018 World Championship in Japan, Serbia are looking to follow up on their Rio 2016 silver medal finish and replicate Cuba’s feat of winning an Olympic title (1996 and 2000) after winning a world title.
The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, have their recent strong performances at the VNL to rely on in this Olympic campaign.
The Serbia-Dominican Republic matchup will be at 14.20, before the main highlight on the opening day, the match between Olympic champions China and Turkey at 16.25.
Volleyball superstar Zhu Ting will lead Lang Ping’s combo of Rio 2016 veterans and new players, while Turkey have two London 2012 veterans and exciting Olympic debutants.
The last two matches on Sunday will be between hosts Japan and Kenya at 19.40, and Brazil and Korea at 21.45.
Japan are hoping to win gold at home after earning victory at the very first Olympic volleyball tournament in 1964, also held in Tokyo, while Brazil will aim to do as well after winning back-to-back gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.