Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

11. Competition Management
by Sport
348
11.20
Volleyball
Twelve men's teams comprised of 144
players and eight women's teams comprised
of 96 players competed in the
Olympic volleyball competition for 15
days. The preliminary matches were
held at the Hanyang University Gymnasium
and the Saemaul Sports Hall
from September 17 to 26. Semifinals,
finals and classification matches were
held in a cross-match according to the
order of places in the preliminary
matches from September 27 to
October 2. The semifinals and finals
were held at the Chamshil Gymnasium
in the Seoul Sports Complex.
In the final for men, the U.S.A. team
outclassed the U.S.S.R 3:1, to capture
the gold, and in the women's final, the
U.S.S.R. defeated Peru 3:2, to win the
gold.
Some difficulties were involved in
running the competitions, as this one
sport was staged at three different
locations, but elaborate planning and
active roles performed by the operation
personnel brought the competition
management to a successful
conclusion.
11.20.1
Competition Preparations
—————————————–
In May 1985, the SLOOC exchanged a
memorandum with the president of the
International Volleyball Federation
(FIVB) concerning the facilities' conditions
of volleyball competition venues
and items requiring cooperation with
the FIVB. The volleyball competition
method was finalized as originally
proposed by the SLOOC in 1986, while
in November 1987, a draw for the
Olympic volleyball competition was
conducted in Rome.
In March 1988, the SLOOC nominated
the commissioner and secretarygeneral
of the Volleyball Operations to
activate the headquarters, and in April
key posts of managers and officers
were nominated. The director was
posted at the Hanyang University
Gymnasium and Saemaul Sports Hall
to begin the preparations for competitions.
An official ceremony to inaugurate the
Volleyball Operations was held at the
Hanyang University Gymnasium on
August 18, 1988. The organizational
hierarchy of the operation headquarters
was comprised of the commissioner,
secretary-general, two directors,
and four managers each charged
with competition, support, management,
and general affairs.
The operational staffing totalled 960,
including eight staff members of the
SLOOC, 297 supporting personnel,
589 volunteers and 66 temporary
employees.
In March 1988, before the Volleyball
Operations was organized, the SLOOC
conducted the first job education for
76 operation personnel for competition.
In April, shortly after the operation
headquarters was placed under
an actual operational system, special
group education was conducted for
key personnel above the rank of
officer. Early in June, a specialist of
the FIVB Technical Committee was
invited to conduct a one week job
education for statistical recording
personnel. In mid-June, two technical
officials of the FIVB were invited to
conduct job education for personnel
charged with competition management.
Field adaptation training for
each venue was conducted between
July and August.
In tandem with various education and
training, the operation headquarters
conducted rehearsals starting from
June, and a general rehearsal was
held on August 25 to check overall
aspects of the preparations and
operations.
The Hanyang University Gymnasium
was equipped with a competition area
of 50x36x17m, and a court of international
standard, measuring 18x9m.
Two warm-up areas, each 37 meters
long, 21 meters wide and 7 meters
high, were also arranged. Interior
illumination was set at 2,000 luxes to
conform to the specification by the
IOC and IF. Other facilities complying
with the IF regulations included the
office of the Organizing Committee,
locker room, medical room, press
center, interview room and lounge.
The Saemaul Sports Hall had a competition
area of 26x38x14.25m, along
with two courts, each measuring
18x9m, and a warm-up area, 45
meters long, 26 meters wide and
13 meters high.
Located in the Seoul Sports Complex,
the Chamshil Gymnasium provided a
competition area, 49x42x22m, a
court, 18x9m, and warm-up area,
35 meters long, 20 meters wide and
10 meters in height.
Three training sites, the Hyundai
Gymnasium, the Hanil Synthetic Fiber
Co. Gymnasium and the Honam Oil
Refinery Co. Gymnasium, were
provided for the 12 men's teams. The
eight women's teams trained in the
Dainong Gymnasium and the Korea
Highway Corporation Gymnasium. The
court allocation was scheduled to
enable one daily training session of
two hours from September 3-16 for the
Volleyball Rankings by NOC
Ranking Men
1 U.S.A.
2 U.S.S.R.
3 Argentina
4 Brazil
5 Netherlands
6 Bulgaria
7 Sweden
8 France
9 Italy
10 Japan
11 Korea
12 Tunisia
men's teams, and from September
3-19 for the women's teams. In accordance
with the FIVB regulations, the
participating teams were allocated one
training session of an hour at the
venue.
Twelve sets of court mats manufactured
by Bat-Taraflex of France were
secured under licensing arrangement.
Seven hundred balls manufactured by
Japan's Mikasa were secured, while
Asics of Japan supplied nets and
referee stands under licensing
arrangements.
The equipment for competition was
secured three months prior to competition
and deployed to the three competition
sites and five training sites, two
weeks in advance of the competition.
11.20.2
Conduct of the Competitions
—————————————–
The participating teams, 12 for men
and eight for women, were selected in
accordance with the decision made by
the FIVB in its 1984 session, in the
following manner:
Men
(1) Team from the host NOC (Korea)
(2) Winning team at the 1984 Los
Angeles Games (U.S.A.)
(3) Winner of the 1985 World Cup
(U.S.S.R.)
(4) Winner of the 1986 World Championship
(Bulgaria)
(5) One team from Europe (France)
(6) One team from Asia (Japan)
(7) One team from Africa (Tunisia)
(8) One team from North and Central
America and the Caribbean Islands
(Cuban boycott resulted in a berth for
Italy)
(9) One team from South America
(Brazil)
(10) Winner of the 1987 Olympic
qualification tournament (Argentina)
(11) Winner of the 1988 Olympic
qualification tournament in the Netherlands
(Netherlands)
(12) Winner of the 1988 Olympic
qualification tournament in the Italy
(Sweden)
Women
U.S.S.R.
Peru
People's Rep. of China
Japan
German Democratic Rep.
Brazil
U.S.A.
Korea