Both defending gold medalists from the Tokyo Games came to Paris with very high hopes of repeating as Olympic champions. On the men's side it was the hosts, France, hoping to ride a blue wave inside South Paris Arena to gold. On the women's side, after finally breaking through in Tokyo, the United States had the opportunity to double up on gold.
Incredibly difficult fields awaited both countries, and with a brand-new format, the tournament was more difficult than ever. With only three pool-play games, the margin for error was incredibly small, and the difference between advancing and going home could come down to a set or two.
Both defending champions made their way back to the Olympic finals, but only one emerged victorious. Here is a look at how each volleyball bracket shook out in Paris.
Men's Bracket
France was looking for the aforementioned repeat at home and fed off an electric crowd that was sold out for each game they played. Still, the French came out second in Pool A behind the upstart Slovenians, who won all three pool-play matches in their Olympic debut.
Top-ranked Poland entered as the favorite and was looking to exorcise the demons of the Olympic quarterfinals, the stage at which it had crashed out in the last five Olympic Games. It was not exactly smooth sailing through Pool B for Poland, raising concerns that history was about to repeat itself. But it got through in second place, along with Italy, who swept the group, and Brazil, who snuck through on the last day of pool play.
The United States crashed out in pool play in Tokyo, an embarrassing result that it was hoping to turn around in Paris. The Americans did just that, winning all three games in Pool C and advancing out as the second seed in the tournament.
One of the bigger upsets of the tournament came in the very first game of the Olympics when No. 11 Germany took down No. 2 Japan. Both teams still managed to get through to the knockout rounds.
The defending bronze medalist, Argentina, managed just a single set win from all three games and crashed out without a single point.
The top teams won out in the quarterfinals, setting up two epic semifinals with continental rivals France and Italy facing off, while Poland took on the United States.
Cracks started to show for Italy in the quarterfinal when it fell behind two sets to Japan, but it pulled off a stunning reverse sweep to get to the semis. France also pulled off an incredible reverse sweep of its own against Germany to keep its repeat hopes alive. In the semis, the Italians ran into a brick wall in France and were beat thoroughly, giving France the chance to repeat and relegating Italy to the bronze medal match.
The United States had one foot in the final when it was leading 2-1 in sets and held a lead in the fourth set. Poland was dealing with injuries and seemed to have nothing left, but somehow rose off the mat and propelled itself to an incredible comeback victory. For the United States it was heartbreak, but for Poland it was ecstasy. After so much Olympic struggle, it had finally reached the final and had a shot at gold.
France was just too much though, and especially the French crowd. The energy inside South Paris Arena was incredible and the men on the court rode that energy all the way to an easy three-set win to take its second-straight gold medal.
The United States was able to escape leaving empty handed, taking care of business against Italy in straight sets in the bronze medal match. It could mark the end of an era for the United States, whose roster is expected to have a lot of turnover heading into Los Angeles, so marking it with a medal after the struggles in Tokyo is a huge achievement.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL MEDALISTS
Gold: France
Silver: Poland
Bronze: United States
Women's Bracket
The United States entered with a target on its back after taking home the gold in Tokyo, but got off on the wrong foot in Paris. The U.S. lost its opening match to China, but did come back to take the next two and advance through Pool A in second place. China topped the group, while Serbia finished third and the host, France, failed to take a point from its Olympic debut.
Brazil was the dominant team in pool play as the only team in the tournament that did not drop a set — giving it the No. 1 seed for the knockout rounds. Poland came through in second in Pool B as it won both of its other matches, while Japan shockingly missed out on the knockout rounds.
Italy lost its first set in Pool C, then rolled the rest of the way through without dropping another set. The Italians took all nine points and the second seed in the knockout rounds, while Turkiye came through second from the pool. The shock of the tournament was the Dominican Republic, which upset the Netherlands on the final day of pool play to pull off a shock advancement to the knockout rounds.
Three of the four games in the quarterfinals were straight-set sweeps, but Turkiye beat China in five sets to advance to the semifinals and face Italy. On the other side, Brazil and the United States swept to set up a matchup of two of the titans of the sport in the semifinal.
Italy again did not lose a set as it cruised past Turkiye to get to its first-ever Olympic final. The United States and Brazil played an instant classic worthy of the matchup, a match from which the United States emerged victorious in five sets.
With the repeat on the line, the United States was simply overwhelmed by Italy, who was just too much to handle. Italy cruised once again to another straight-sets sweep to take its first-ever Olympic medal. After dropping its first set of the tournament, Italy never lost another en route to an incredible Olympic title.
The gold is also the first in Italy's history, as despite having six medals the men have never won gold. Italy's seven total medals between its men and women break a tie with Japan and China for the fourth most ever. The United States, courtesy of taking home silver in women's and bronze in men's, has entered a tie for the most all-time volleyball medals with the Soviet Union at 13.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL MEDALISTS
Gold: Italy
Silver: United States
Bronze: Brazil