With just four weeks until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced today the 24 players who will represent Team GB in both the men’s and women’s indoor volleyball events.
Team GB have taken up the opportunity to use home-nation places to enter both a men’s and women’s team for volleyball, which will take place at Earl’s Court in London this summer. British Volleyball has made a steady rise since 2006 – including some notable results at the test event last year – and London 2012 will be the first time that Team GB will be represented at the Olympic Games.
The selected athletes are :
Men:
Women:
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All of the players have competed in mainland Europe and America, where the sport enjoys a very strong level of interest. By honing their abilities in some of the most competitive leagues across the globe, the volleyball athletes are well prepared to put in credible performances at home in London and lay the foundations for future generations of British volleyball players.
The men’s team, which will be captained by 25-year-old Ben Pipes, achieved remarkable results by beating Mexico and Egypt at the 2011 test event which was also hosted by Earl’s Court. They will face stern opposition at the Games, as they have been pooled with Bulgaria, Australia, Italy, Poland and Argentina – but their clear progression recently means they should be able provide some thrilling drama for the home crowd by challenging some of the world’s finest opposition.
Glaswegian Lynne Beattie will captain the women’s team, and they will be confident at their prospects of picking up Olympic victories after some noteworthy results recently, including beating a representative USA squad last year in Sheffield. Like their male counterparts, they will also be looking to gain positive results against some of the strongest volleyball nations, having been grouped alongside Russia, Algeria, Italy, Dominican Republic and Japan.
The two teams share a full range of experience. Jason Haldane – who will turn 41 four days before the Opening Ceremony – is the veteran of the squad, whereas 18-year-old Savanah Leaf is at the beginning of her international volleyball career.
Twelve nations will compete in each of the men’s and the women’s events. The entrants are divided into two pools of six, who will compete in a round-robin format. The top four nations from each group progress to the quarter-final, where the competition becomes straight knock-out. The losers of the two semi-finals play off for bronze, while the winners contest the gold-medal fixture.
Both the British men’s and women’s teams will be targeting progression to the knock-out stage, as well as providing memorable moments for the home crowd as they look to lay the foundations for a successful future for volleyball in Britain.
The announcement was made today at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, where British Volleyball is based.
The addition of the indoor volleyball players brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 393 across 30 sport disciplines: archery, athletics – marathon, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoe slalom, canoe sprint, cycling, diving, equestrian – dressage, equestrian – eventing, fencing, football – women, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronised swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball – indoor, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt said:
Richard Callicott, President of the British Volleyball Federation, said:
Ben Pipes, Men’s captain, said:
Lynne Beattie, Women’s captain, said:
About Team 2012:
Team 2012, presented by Visa, is the official support programme for British athletes striving to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB in 2012.
Alongside National Lottery and Exchequer funding, Team 2012 helps to raise funds to support 1,200 athletes from 47 Olympic and Paralympic sports and disciplines who are in training to be selected for Team GB and ParalympicsGB at London 2012. Funds raised are invested in six key areas across 47 different Olympic and Paralympic sporting disciplines:
For more information on Team 2012, visit www.team-2012.com