Canada Mens Volleyball Team Qualifies for Rio 2016 Olympics

June 21, 2016

RIO 2016 Olympics Games will start very soon. It’s important to point out that the fans of Canada mens volleyball team have a very good piece of news. That means that they can rest assured that their favorite team qualifies for RIO Summer Olympics Games 2016.

The 2016 indoor volleyball Olympics tournament will be held in Rio de Janeiro. The competition will start on 7 August and will last till 21 August 2016. The mens indoor volleyball tournament will include a total of 12 teams. That means that 144 athletes will participate in RIO 2016 Olympics mens indoor competition.

The Canada national men’s volleyball team (the 1-st World Qualifier) has joined other 11 mens indoor volleyball teams which qualified for Summer Olympics Games 2016 – Brazil (Host Country), the United States (2015 World Cup), Italy (2015 World Cup), Argentina (South American Qualifier), Russia (European Qualifier), Egypt (African Qualifier), Cuba (North American Qualifier), Iran (Asian Qualifier), Poland (the 1-st World Qualifier), France (the 1-st World Qualifier) as well as Mexico (the 2nd World Qualifier).

The End of “24-year Olympic Drought”

So called “24-year Olympic drought” has finished. Congratulations! Now, players of the Canada mens indoor volleyball and their head coach Glenn Hoag are actively preparing for this year’s Summer Olympics Games. The fans of the team hope that their favorite volleyball players will continue to do great job during the 2016 Volleyball Olympic tournament.

It’s interesting to know that Canada hasn’t played on the Olympic Games since Barcelona 1992. So, it took Canadian men’s volleyball players too much time to win the spot in the Summer Olympic Game.

Now, all of us know that for the first time in 24 years Canada is sending its indoor men’s volleyball team to RIO 2016 Olympics Games. It goes without saying that this great piece of news makes each Canadian fan of indoor volleyball happy. That means that their favorite team is one of the best men’s volleyball team in the world.

FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan 2016

Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag commented the news after his team demonstrated excellent results in the men’s World Olympic Qualification tournament in Tokyo, Japan and got the spot in the Summer Olympics Games. Obviously, he was proud of his team and expressed his thanks to all of its players.

When commenting the latest achievements of Canada mens indoor volleyball team, Glenn Hoag pointed out that Graham Vigrass and Steve Marshall played perfectly. Moreover, the coach was very happy with Gavin Schmitt and Gord Perrin. He said that these two volleyball players managed to stay focused during the game and did the great job during the tournament.

FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament that took place in Tokyo was a good chance for many indoor men’s volleyball teams to win the spot in the Summer Olympics Games 2016. FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament brought together a lot of strong mens indoor volleyball teams. Obviously, that competition was a big challenge for many indoor mens volleyball teams that they have to overcome on their way to success.

During the men’s World Olympic Qualification tournament Canada mens indoor volleyball team had to overcome a lot of challenges on their way to success. It is worth noting that Canada had to play against the host of the World Olympic Qualifying tournament, Japan. It was a difficult match for both teams. Finally, Canada managed to beat Japan and won the match in four sets (25-23, 19-25, 21-25, 19-25). By doing this, Canada mens volleyball team increased their chances to get the spot in RIO 2016 Olympics Games.

Playing at FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament 2016 the Canada national men’s volleyball team has played 7 matches. So, the team won 4 games and gained 12 points. However, these results didn’t allow Canada to become one of three best non-Asian teams and get one of three Olympic spots available.

It’s worth noting that only four mens indoor volleyball teams could get a spot in the Summer Games 2016. Three favorites of FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament got the spot in RIO 2016 Olympics Games. Iran, France and Poland are the first three volleyball teams who got the space in the Summer Games 2016. So, what men’s volleyball team would be the 4-th? It was a question faced by so many volleyball players all over the world.

Among the teams which had the chance to get the last spot in Summer Games were Australia, Canada and China. In order to get the final Olympic spot at FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament Canada had to beat China. That’s why the match Canada vs China became another big challenge for the Canada national men’s volleyball team.

Canada won China in a five-set match 3-2 (25-16, 20-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-9). Meanwhile, Australia was beaten by Poland. As a result, the Canada national men’s volleyball team received the spot at Olympics Games Rio 2016 available to non-Asian teams. There is no doubt that Canada vs China was one of the most important and difficult matches for Canada. Moreover, it was also one of the biggest wins in the history of the Canada national men’s volleyball team.

Glenn Hoag has commented the match Canada vs China. He said that no one expected that that match would be easy. China national men’s volleyball team was very strong and demonstrated excellent results during the World Olympic Qualification tournament. On the other hand, Canada had a hard match with Japan and needed to recover from it before the Canada vs China match. The match is over and the Canadian fans of indoor volleyball will support their favorite team during the Summer Olympic Games Rio 2016 very soon.

The History of the Canada National Men’s Volleyball Team

As it was mentioned above, the Canada mens indoor volleyball team is going to take part in the Summer Olympics Games 2016 for the first time in 24 years (since since Barcelona 1992). Many fans believe that the new era of Canada mens indoor volleyball team’s history has begun. Now, we want to give fans short insights into the history of the Canada national men’s volleyball team.

Fans need to know that the Canada national men’s volleyball team has participated in Olympic Games for 3 times. The team took the 8-th, 4-th and 10-th place in 1976, 1984 and 1992 respectively.

The Canada national men’s volleyball team played at World Championship in 1974 (20-th place), 1978 (20-th place), 1982 (11-th place), 1990 (12-th place), 1994 (9-th place), 1998 (12-th place), 2002 (17-th place), 2006 (11-th place), 2010 (19-th place) and 2014 (7-th).

The team played at World Cup in 1995 (9-th place), 1999 (8-th place), 2003 (7-th place) and 2015 (7-th place).

The Canada national men’s volleyball team played at World League 9 times. The team took the 10-th place in 1991, 7-th place in 1992, 8-th place in 1999, 11-th place in 2000, 13-th place in 2007, 12-th place in 2012, 5-th place in 2013, 13-th place in 2014 and 15-th place in 2015.

The Canada national men’s volleyball team has won bronze medals at Pan American Games 3 times in the history (1979, 1999 and 2015).

Without a doubt, winning the spot in the Summer Olympics Games at FIVB’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament has become one the key moments in the history of the Canada national mens volleyball team. Now, it’s time to wish good luck to players of the Canada mens volleyball team during RIO 2016 Olympics Games!