Olympics 2020

Volleyball Medals Are Up for Grabs

1 min read
FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2016, file photo, United States' Foluke Akinradewo prepares to serve during a women's quarterfinal volleyball match against Japan at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Middle Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson is back for a third Olympics after a busy stretch since the games in Rio. Those games had a sour ending for Gunderson, whose knee injury in the first set of the semifinal sidelined her for the rest of the match and contributed to the team's loss to Serbia. Gunderson got married since then and gave birth to her first child in November 2019 but has used the extra year off to get back into form for these games. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

This year's competitions see several legitimate contenders with China, the United States, Italy and Serbia viewed as top contenders on the women's side, and Brazil, Poland, Russia, France and the U.S. for the men.

TOP HEAVY POOLS

The draw has presented an extremely challenging Group B on the men's side with four of the top five ranked teams in the world all together with defending champion Brazil, Russia, the United States and France.

On the women's side, the No. 1 ranked U.S. women are in the same group as defending champion China.

DEFENDING CHAMPS

Both defending champions are in good position to contend for a repeat with Bruno Rezende back for a fourth Olympics for the Brazilian men. Brazil is seeking its fourth gold medal.

The Chinese women are also seeking their fourth gold to match the record held by the Soviets.

Starting at /week.