Frank Thomas

Weishoff Notable Sports Figures
Paula Weishoff
In her first season with the U.S. national team,
Weishoff and her teammates took home the gold medal
at the North and Central America and Caribe (NORCE-
CA) Championships. Her team continued to win awards
at tournaments through the early 1980s, including the
bronze medal at the World Championship games in
1982, and the silver medal at the Pan American Games.
In 1984 the summer Olympics were held in Weishoff’s
home state of California, and she was named to the U.S.
women’s volleyball team. The U.S. women took home
the silver medal at the Olympics, and Weishoff was
named Team USA’s MVP.
After the Olympics, Weishoff played for no less then
five Italian First (A1) Division teams into the 1990s. She
also continued to play for the U.S. national team, which
continued to win awards into the 1990s, including the
bronze medal at the Goodwill Games in 1986 and the
silver medal at the NORCECA Championships in 1991.
In 1992, Weishoff, then 30 years old, again played on
the U.S. women’s volleyball team at the Olympics. The
team lost its chance for a gold metal after losing to the
Cuban team, but took home the bronze metal after overcoming
Brazil. Weishoff herself was named Most Valuable
Player of the entire Olympics. She was delighted
with the honor and with having won her second
Olympic medal. As she was later quoted by Bill Dwyre
in the Houston Chronicle as saying, “In 1984, it was a
great feeling winning the silver. And it was great to be
1738
Chronology
1962 Born in Los Angeles, California
1980 Begins college at the University of Southern California (USC);
plays for the school’s volleyball team, the USC Trojans
1981 Leaves college to play on the U.S. women’s national volleyball
team
1984 Wins silver medal on U.S. women’s volleyball team at the
Olympics
1984-85 Plays for Italian First (A1) Division team VBC Cassano
1985-88 Plays for Italian First (A1) Division team Civ & Civ Modena
1988-90 Plays for Italian First (A1) Division team Braglia Reggio Emilia
1990-92 Plays for Italian First (A1) Division team Menabò Reggio
Emilia
1992 Wins bronze medal on U.S. women’s volleyball team at the
Olympics
1992-93 Plays for Italian First (A1) Division team Isola Verde Modena
1994 Plays for Brazilian volleyball team
1995 Plays for Japanese pro league
1996 Plays on U.S. women’s volleyball team at the Olympics
1996 Plays her last season with the U.S. national team
1997 Plays for Japanese pro league
1997 Retires from playing competitive volleyball
1997 Returns to USC as a full-time student and assistant coach for
the Trojans
1997 Marries husband Karl Hanold
2000 Completes undergraduate degree at USC
able to come back and compete in the Olympics. I guess
I’m lucky to have two chances and have two medals. I
may not have a gold medal, but I have a heart of gold.”
Weishoff continued to play for the U.S. women’s national
team after the 1992 Olympics. The team won
bronze at the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball
(FIVB) Super Four in 1992 and the gold medal at the
World Grand Prix in 1995. Also in 1995, Weishoff went
to play for the Japanese team Daiei, leading it to the
Japanese professional league title, and earning herself
MVP honors.
Weishoff went to the Olympics with Team U.S.A.
one last time in 1996. The team did not medal this time,
and the following year, Weishoff retired from competition
to return to USC to complete her undergraduate
studies. The year 1997 was a big one for Weishoff. Not
only did she retire from playing volleyball competitively
and return to school, but she also started a new career as
assistant coach for her old team, the UCS Trojans. Also
that year, she married her husband, Karl Hanold.
Weishoff was inducted into the U.S. Volleyball Hall
of Fame in 1998. She graduated from USC in 2000 with
a B.A. in humanities with a minor in business. By 2003,
she had become head assistant coach for the USC Trojans,
and had helped to make it the top-rated college
women’s volleyball team in the country.
Weishoff is proud of what the USC women have accomplished.
“This team could win two or three national
championships,” she told Phil Collin in the Daily Breeze
in December of 2002. “I think this team could establish
itself as the dynasty that USC used to be. That was kind