sydney 2000

Shane Purvis from Australian Volleyball Warehouse has notified the Australian volleyball community that more than 200 volleyballs from the Sydney Olympics have been stolen.

It was like a who's who of Australian volleyball in Sydney over the Olympics and it made you realise just how small the volleyball community is in this country - it was largely the same faces with many people already knowing each other.

The Australian men's volleyball team made their own history tonight with their first ever Olympic victory, downing Spain in 4 sets.

Italy had a point to prove on Sunday afternoon in the bronze medal play-off against Argentina, and Argentina finally found that they had been overperforming to reach the top four.

As boring as it was, we were there as the Australian women's volleyball team made history today as the first Australian volleyball team to win a match at the Olympics.

What is it with Olympics and Italian volleyball??!! Every Olympiad in recent times we say that the Italian men's volleyball team are the best side never to win a gold medal...and it has happened again...they choked. A few days ago I hesitated as I wrote that the great Andrea Sartoretti didn't cope with the pressure he was put under by the Australian crowd in the quarters, because surely a player of his skill and experience wouldn't be bothered by partisan spectators. However, last night, not only did Sartoretti buckle under the pressure but so did all his teammates.

Renegades members travelled up to Sydney in August 1999 as volunteers for the Olympic Test Event.