The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, and commonly known as Tokyo 1964, were an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 9 to 24 October. A total of 5,151 athletes representing 93 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated. The games featured 163 events across 19 sports and 24 disciplines. Two new sports were introduced to the Summer Olympic Games program in Tokyo: judo and volleyball. The inclusion of volleyball marked the first time that a women's team sport had been introduced.
Volleyball has been part of the Summer Olympics program for both men and women consistently since 1964.
Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as an unofficial demonstration event in 1904 and 1924. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976. FIBA organizes both the men's and women's FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the Summer Olympics basketball tournaments, which are sanctioned by the IOC.
The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Summer Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
Japan was the host nation for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. 328 competitors, 270 men and 58 women, took part in 155 events in 21 sports.
Water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since the second games, in 1900. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Hungary has been the most successful country in men's tournament, while the United States is the only team to win multiple times at the women's tournament since its introduction. Italy was the first to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments.
Rowing at the 1964 Summer Olympics featured seven events, for men only.
The 1964 Summer Olympics was the first time that volleyball had been held as an Olympic sport. The sport would feature two medals during this games with the men's and women's indoor teams events. In both tournaments, the format was the same with a single round robin between all of the teams that was competing in the tournament.
Foluke Atinuke Gunderson is an indoor volleyball player who plays as a middle blocker for Japanese club Hisamitsu Springs. Born in Canada, she represents the United States internationally. Gunderson won gold with the national team at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix, 2014 World Championship, the Rimini Volleyball Nations League, and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Her 2020 Olympics win allowed her to complete the trifecta of winning an Olympic bronze, silver, and gold medal.
The Japan women's national volleyball team, or All-Japan women's volleyball team, is currently ranked 7th in the world by FIVB. The head coach is Masayoshi Manabe.
Masae Kasai was a volleyball player from Japan, who was a member of the Japan Women's National Team, Oriental Witches, that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
The 1992 women's Olympic volleyball tournament was the eighth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee. The competition in Barcelona, Spain was held from 29 July to 8 August 1992 in three venues in the city: the Palau d'Esports, the Pavelló de la Vall d'Hebron and the Palau Sant Jordi, where the semi-finals and finals were played.
The 1984 Women's Olympic Volleyball Tournament was the 6th edition of the event, organized by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the IOC. It was held in Long Beach, California, United States from July 30 to August 7, 1984.
Kōji Kojima was a Japanese Olympic volleyball coach. He led the Japanese Olympic women's volleyball team to a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich.
The FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variable, but since 1962, they were held every four years. The tournament will be held biennially starting in 2025.
The women's tournament in volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics was the 15th edition of the event at an Olympic Games, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB, in conjunction with the IOC. It was held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 July to 8 August 2021. It was originally scheduled to take place from 26 July to 9 August 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee announced on 24 March 2020 that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be delayed to 2021. Because of this pandemic, the games were played behind closed doors.
Hirofumi Daimatsu was a Japanese volleyball coach and a Japanese politician. He led Oriental Witches, nickname of "Nichibo Kaizuka", a factory volleyball team of Dai Nippon Spinning Co., Ltd. in Kaizuka, Osaka given by the reports of European media when they achieved 24 consecutive victories against other national teams on the expedition to Europe, to world champion.
Oriental Witches is the well-known nickname of Nichibo Kaizuka, a factory volleyball team of Dai Nippon Spinning Co., Ltd. in Kaizuka, Osaka given by the reports of European media when they achieved 24 consecutive victories against other national teams on the expedition to Europe.
Sata Isobe spiking ball against Soviet Union National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
Masae Kasai standing in the center of podium as the team leader, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
Yuriko Handa spiking ball against Poland National Team, 1964 Tokyo Olympics Women's Volleyball
