# Volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

The men's tournament in volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics was the 9th edition of the event at the Summer Olympics, organized by the world's governing body, the FIVB in conjunction with the IOC. It was held in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, United States from 21 July to 4 August 1996.

## Qualification

| Means of qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host Country | 18 September 1990 | Tokyo | 1 | United States |
| 1995 World Cup | 18 November – 2 December 1995 | Japan | 3 | Italy |
| 1995 World Cup | 18 November – 2 December 1995 | Japan | 3 | Netherlands |
| 1995 World Cup | 18 November – 2 December 1995 | Japan | 3 | Brazil |
| African Qualifier | 29–31 March 1996 | Rabat | 1 | Tunisia |
| Asian Qualifier | 12–21 April 1996 | Seoul & Tokyo | 1 | South Korea |
| European Qualifier | 27–29 March 1996 | Copenhagen | 1 | Russia |
| North American Qualifier | 14–16 April 1996 | Calgary | 1 | Cuba |
| South American Qualifier | 12–14 April 1996 | Buenos Aires | 1 | Argentina |
| 1st World Qualifier | 3–5 May 1996 | Espinho | 1 | Bulgaria |
| 2nd World Qualifier | 3–5 May 1996 | Munich | 1 | Yugoslavia |
| 3rd World Qualifier | 3–5 May 1996 | Patras | 1 | Poland |
| Total | Total | Total | 12 | |

## Pools composition

| Pool A | Pool B |
| United States (Hosts) | Italy |
| Brazil | Netherlands |
| Cuba | Russia |
| Argentina | South Korea |
| Bulgaria | Tunisia |
| Poland | Yugoslavia |

## Venues

| Main venue | Sub venue |
| Atlanta, United States | Athens, United States |
| Omni Coliseum | Stegeman Coliseum |
| Capacity: 16,378 | Capacity: 10,523 |

## Preliminary round

* The top four teams in each pool qualified for the quarterfinals.

### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Cuba | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 2.400 | 233 | 191 | 1.220 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Brazil | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 210 | 187 | 1.123 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 1.250 | 225 | 212 | 1.061 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Argentina | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 1.000 | 222 | 225 | 0.987 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | United States | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 1.111 | 241 | 233 | 1.034 | |
| 6 | Poland | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 0.067 | 151 | 234 | 0.645 | |

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Pts | SW | SL | SR | SPW | SPL | SPR | Qualification |
| 1 | Italy | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 0 | MAX | 225 | 138 | 1.630 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Netherlands | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 4.000 | 209 | 131 | 1.595 | Quarterfinals |
| 3 | FR Yugoslavia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 1.125 | 215 | 191 | 1.126 | Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 0.778 | 196 | 201 | 0.975 | Quarterfinals |
| 5 | South Korea | 5 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 0.250 | 156 | 198 | 0.788 | |
| 6 | Tunisia | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 0.067 | 98 | 240 | 0.408 | |

## Final round

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Gold medal match | Gold medal match |
| 31 July | 31 July | | | |
| Cuba | 0 | | | |
| Cuba | 0 | 2 August | 2 August | | |
| Russia | 3 | 2 August | 2 August | |
| Russia | 3 | Russia | 0 | |
| 31 July | 31 July | | Russia | 0 | |
| 31 July | 31 July | Netherlands | 3 | |
| Bulgaria | 1 | Netherlands | 3 | |
| Bulgaria | 1 | | | | 4 August | 4 August |
| Netherlands | 3 | | | | 4 August | 4 August |
| Netherlands | 3 | | | | Netherlands | 3 |
| 31 July | 31 July | | | | | Netherlands | 3 |
| 31 July | 31 July | | | | Italy | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 | | | | Italy | 2 |
| Brazil | 2 | 2 August | 2 August | | | |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 August | 2 August | | | |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | Yugoslavia | 1 | | | |
| 31 July | 31 July | | Yugoslavia | 1 | | | |
| 31 July | 31 July | Italy | 3 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Argentina | 1 | Italy | 3 | | Bronze medal match | Bronze medal match |
| Argentina | 1 | | | | 4 August | 4 August |
| Italy | 3 | | | | 4 August | 4 August |
| Italy | 3 | | | | Russia | 1 |
| | | | | | Yugoslavia | 3 |
| 5th–8th semifinals | 5th–8th semifinals | 5th place match | 5th place match |
| 1 August | 1 August |
| Cuba | 3 |
| Cuba | 3 | 2 August | 2 August |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 2 August | 2 August |
| Bulgaria | 1 | Cuba | 0 |
| 1 August | 1 August | | Cuba | 0 |
| 1 August | 1 August | Brazil | 3 |
| Brazil | 3 | Brazil | 3 |
| Argentina | 1 | | |
| Argentina | 1 | 7th place match | 7th place match |
| | | 2 August | 2 August |
| | | Bulgaria | 3 |
| | | Argentina | 2 |

### Gold medal match
## Final standing

| Rank | Team |
| | Netherlands |
| | Italy |
| | FR Yugoslavia |
| 4 | Russia |
| 5 | Brazil |
| 6 | Cuba |
| 7 | Bulgaria |
| 8 | Argentina |
| 9 | South Korea |
| 9 | United States |
| 11 | Poland |
| 11 | Tunisia |
* 1996 Men's Olympic champions
* Netherlands 1st title
* 12–man roster
* Misha Latuhihin, Henk-Jan Held, Brecht Rodenburg, Guido Görtzen, Richard Schuil, Ron Zwerver, B. van de Goor, Jan Posthuma, Olof van der Meulen, Peter Blangé, Rob Grabert, M. van de Goor
* Head coach
* Joop Alberda

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Netherlands (NED)Misha Latuhihin Henk-Jan Held Brecht Rodenburg Guido Görtzen Richard Schuil Ron Zwerver Bas van de Goor Jan Posthuma Olof van der Meulen Peter Blangé Rob Grabert Mike van de Goor Head coach: Joop Alberda | Italy (ITA)Andrea Gardini Marco Meoni Pasquale Gravina Paolo Tofoli Samuele Papi Andrea Sartoretti Marco Bracci Lorenzo Bernardi Luca Cantagalli Andrea Zorzi Andrea Giani Vigor Bovolenta Head coach: Julio Velasco | FR Yugoslavia (YUG)Đorđe Đurić Žarko Petrović Vladimir Batez Željko Tanasković Dejan Brđović Đula Mešter Slobodan Kovač Nikola Grbić Vladimir Grbić Rajko Jokanović Goran Vujević Andrija Gerić Head coach: Zoran Gajić |

## Awards

* Most valuable player
    Bas van de Goor
* Best spiker
    Bas van de Goor
* Best server
    Marcos Milinkovic
* Best blocker
    Nikolay Jeliazkov
* Best setter
    Peter Blangé