|
TORRANCE, United States, February 24, 2016 - If Karch Kiraly
wants to go to the Olympics, he’s one of the few who knows how
to get there. The hard way.
Sure, he pays his own way – but with hard work, dedication and a
competitive spirit that few in any sport can match. That’s not
part of any ticket package.
He led the revival of the United States national team and was
the heart and soul of teams that captured gold medals indoors in
Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988. Eight years later, Kiraly
became the first player to win a third gold medal when he and
Kent Steffes captured the inaugural beach volleyball gold medal
in Atlanta 1996.
Kiraly returned to the Olympic scene as a USA women’s national
team assistant coach in London 2012. But in 2016, the
55-year-old Kiraly is the head man of the USA women, who have
already qualified for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympiad.
Coaches aren’t awarded Olympic medals, but if the United States
women emerge victorious, it’s another golden moment for Kiraly,
who first represented the United States on its junior national
team when he was 16 years old. In the 1984 Olympics, he was the
youngest player on the team at 23.
Certainly no one is putting it past Kiraly, who won a record 148
events in beach volleyball to go with his sparkling indoor
career, to reach the top again. He was elected into the
Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Yet at the moment, he’s ready to rock in his next endeavor.
“The thing about the clock striking 2016 this year is, as it was
the case for lots of teams in Europe, in South America and
NORCECA, we immediately within days had an Olympic qualifier so
the big focus wasn’t the Olympics themselves, it was trying to
win a berth and pave the road to Rio,” Kiraly said. “We were
able to do that in our (NORCECA) zone, Europe had a very fierce
tournament and Russia qualified there and Argentina down in
South America. So that was a big 10 days to start the year, and
now a lot of the planning is going on for a lot of teams.”
The United States will swing into high gear in Olympic
preparation when it participates in the FIVB World Grand Prix in
Thailand in June and July, then take part in the Pan American
Cup before heading to Rio.
And there’s little doubt what Kiraly is expecting to accomplish
once they get there.
“I got to be an assistant coach in London and our team had a
great tournament there and won silver,” Kiraly said. “The women
have been perennial factors at the Olympics, several silver
medals including the last two. Something that is not yet on the
shelf is the gold medal. So we’re hungry for that, as lots and
lots of teams are.”
He continues to amaze his peers, who joined him in celebrating
the opening of the new USA Volleyball training center in
Torrance, California on January 29. Also there was Kerri Walsh
Jennings, who is trying to win her fourth gold medal on the
beach in Rio.
“What’s really neat to see is Karch and Kerri Walsh because,
both of those players are going to have a chance . . . to get
his fourth gold medal and her fourth gold medal,” said beach
legend Mike Dodd, who teamed with Mike Whitmarsh to take silver
in 1996. “If those two could pull that off, it’s going to add
even more to our legacy and things for the young players to
shoot for.” |
