奧運比賽項目－排球 Volleyball

Volleyball－Olympic sport since 1964 排球－1964年成為奧運會項目

　　Volleyball, like basketball, is a sport whose origin is known almost to the day. Oddly enough, both sports were invented at the same college and within a few years of one another. Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, a student at Springfield College and a director of the YMCA at Holyoke, Massachusetts. The game was originally called "Mintonette".

　　同籃球一樣，排球的歷史可以追溯到一百多年之前。非常湊巧，兩項運動在同一所大學誕生，只是時間上相差幾年而已。排球是韋廉姆·G·摩根（William G. Morgan）在1895年發明的，他是美國斯普林菲爾德專科學校的學生，也是馬薩諸塞州霍利奧克城的基督教青年會幹事。最初這項運動被稱做「Mintonette」。

　　Volleyball quickly spread around the world and became more popular in other countries than in the United States. The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was formed in 1946. The sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1964 by the Japanese, although it was never contested as a demonstration sport at the Olympics. No country has been truly dominant in volleyball, although the Soviet Union has won the most medals. Originally the Japanese had the world's best women players while the United States had the best men's team in the world throughout the 1980s.

　　排球運動很快傳遍世界，而且在別的國家的流行程度甚至超過了美國。國際排球聯合會(FIVB)成立於1946年。儘管排球從未作為表演項目出現在奧運會上，但1964年日本人還是將它引入了奧運會。沒有一個國家曾在這個項目上真正地獨佔鰲頭，儘管從獲得獎牌數量上講蘇聯佔優勢。最初在整個20世紀80年代，日本擁有世界最佳女子排球隊，美國擁有最佳男子排球隊。

　　Volleyball has now reached great heights of popularity in the United States and Brazil, largely thanks to the discipline of beach volleyball. The beach volleyball phenomenon, although hugely visible, is still just in its infancy. From the first FIVB World Tour event just over ten years ago, to the overwhelming spectator and television success of 'Beach' at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, beach volleyball has opened up Volleyball to a completely new market.

　　今天排球在美國和巴西能夠很高的普及率，應歸功於沙灘排球的發展。正處在起步階段的沙灘排球運動已經頗受世人矚目。從10多年前國際排聯舉辦第一屆世界沙灘排球巡迴賽，到1996年亞特蘭大奧運會和2000年悉尼奧運會「沙灘」賽場上如潮觀眾和電視轉播的巨大成功，沙灘排球為排球運動打開了一個全新的市場。