Volleyball World Cup
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The World Cup is a men's and women's volleyball competition. Created in 1965 (men) and 1973 (women), it is an international qualification event for the Olympic Games. It is not to be confused with the Volleyball World Championship or the Volleyball World League.
HistoryOriginsThe World Cup was created in 1965 with the purpose of partially filling the gap between the two most important volleyball tournaments, the Olympic Games and the World Championship, which take place in alternating 4-year cycles. The establishment of a third international competition would leave only one in every four years with no major events. The World Cup was to be held in the year following the Olympic Games. The first two tournaments were for men's volleyball only; in 1973, a women's tournament was also introduced. Originally, each tournament had a different host, but in 1977 the competition was transferred to Japan on a permanent basis. In the 1990s, the installment of annual international events such as the World League and the Grand Prix made the original motivations for the creation of the World Cup obsolete. Instead of letting a consolidated event disappear for lack of interest, the FIVB decided to change its format in 1991: it would be held in the year preceding, and not following, the Olympic Games; and it would be considered a first international Olympic qualification tournament, granting the winner a direct berth in the games. This move saved the competition. The possibility of securing an early berth for the Olympic Games, thus avoiding extraneous and in some cases tight continental qualification procedures, became a consistent motivation for the national federations to participate in the World Cup. In 1995, the number of Olympic spots granted at the competition was increased to three, as it remains up to now (2005). Winners (Men)Former Soviet Union is so far (2003) the only team that managed to win more than once the Men's World Cup. The Soviets took the gold at the opening edition of the tournament, in 1965. Four years later, the winner was also a socialist nation, East Germany. Scheduled for Uruguay, the men's events of the 1973 edition were cancelled. In 1977, competition was resumed in Japan, and the USSR came back for two wins in a row. In 1985, they were once again runner-ups, but lost the decisive match to USA in five sets. In 1989, Cuba surprised the world and beat a rising Italy to take the gold. With the competition now set as a qualifying event for the Olympic Games, Soviet Union, led by Dmitri Fomin won the title in 1991, at the brink of dissolution. The Italians, who hadn't participated in this edition, finally conquered their gold medal in 1995. Inheriting a large part of the former Soviet volleyball programme, Russia was the winner in 1999. In the following edition, the last one played so far, favorite Brazil did not disappoint its fans and swept smoothly through all its opponents for the gold. Winners (Women)The Women's World Cup has had not one great winner, like its counterpart for men's volleyball, but two: Cuba and China. The first edition of the tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Japan, the runner-up of 1973, took the gold in 1977. With the help of superstar player Lang Ping, China won the following two editions, in 1981 and 1985. Then Cuba stepped forward to begin its amazing World Cup career, winning its first title in 1989. With the tournament now as an Olympic qualifier, there followed three more consecutive victories, in 1991, 1995 and 1999. China came back in 2003 with a remarkably offensive team to win its third title. Finally Italy won the 2007 edition with an outstanding record of eleven wins in eleven games and only two sets left to the opponents (both lost against Serbia). Competition formulaThe World Cup is the most stable from all competition formulas employed by the FIVB. The following rules apply:
Winners summary
Men
Women
Medals summaryMen
Women
See alsoExternal links
de:Volleyball World Cup el:Παγκόσμιο κύπελλο πετοσφαίρισης fr:Coupe du monde de volley-ball féminin it:Coppa del Mondo (pallavolo) ja:バレーボールワールドカップ pl:Puchar Świata w siatkówce pt:Copa do Mundo de Voleibol ru:Кубок мира по волейболу | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
