OLYMPIC REWIND
LONDON OLYMPICS PREVIEW
SILVER SMILES Under the intense scru- tiny of strong- willed coach Arie Selinger, the 1984 U.S. Women’s Na- tional Volleyball Team, left, was the fi rst U.S. team to earn a medal in vol- leyball. Below, Chris Marlowe will always be remembered for the fl ag he packed to celebrate a gold medal. (Photos: USA Volleyball).
ma’s revenge at some point in the tournament. Women — Finish: 8th out of 8 teams
• Record: 0-7 • Team: Patti Bright, Ann Heck, Fanny Hopeau, Ninja Jorgensen, Laurie Lewis, Miki McFadden, Marilyn McCreavy, Nancy Owen, Barbara Perry, Mary Perry, Sharon Peterson, Jane Ward. • Head coach: Harlan Cohen In early 1967, the U.S. showed promise with a strong silver-medal fi nish at the FIVB World Championship. But with an aster- isk. The Soviet bloc teams weren’t there. It was still a signifi cant accomplishment for a program in its infancy, but it wasn’t a good indicator for future success, and that much proved out the following year at the Olympics in Mexico where the team didn’t win a match and fi nished in last place.
The addition of the Soviet teams to the
Olympic fi eld was only one issue. The U.S. team was also missing two of its best players: Linda Murphy, a member of the 1964 Olym- pic team, and Mary Jo Peppler. Both had a disagreement – or, in Peppler’s case, multiple disagreements – with the coach. In Murphy’s case, it was simply a matter of Cohen telling her she needed to be at an optional practice or she was fi nished. She was working at the time and also had obligations at home, so she made the decision that she couldn’t make it, and that was that. Looking back on it now, U.S. player Miki McFadden says that was a blow to the team’s chances. “The game wasn’t that big at that point, and Linda was a dominating 6-3 hitter,” McFadden says. “I think it would have helped a lot to have her there.” Player-coach issues aside, the U.S.
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wouldn’t likely have been a medal con- tender in 1968. The team was essentially a collection of all stars that had little training time and was led by a volunteer coach. Many of the powerhouse coun- tries in that era were like professional teams, so it wasn’t a level playing fi eld for the U.S., and like in 1964, qualifying alone was an achievement. This was the fi nal Olympics for Jane
Ward, who was the team captain and highly respected by her teammates. “In my mind, Jane is the best who has ever played,” Murphy says. “She was a great competitor, and she made her teammates better. If she made a mistake, it was headline material.”
Munich, 1972 • • • • • • • • • Montreal, 1976 • • • • • • • Neither the men’s nor the women’s
team qualifi ed for the Olympics.
Moscow, 1980 • • • • • • • • Women — Finish: The U.S. boy- cotted the 1980 Olympics, so no American athletes competed in Russia. • Team: Janet Baier, Carolyn Becker, Rita Crockett, Patty Dowdell, Laurie Flachmeier, Debbie Green, Flo Hyman, Laurel Brassey, Debbie Landreth, Diane McCormick, Terry Place, Sue Woodstra. • Head Coach: Arie Selinger After not qualifying for the Olympic
Games in 1972 and 1976, the U.S. Women quickly became a contender for the 1980 Olympic Games gold medal with a deep and talented roster including Flo Hyman and Rita Crockett. The team was the fi rst to go through a successful experiment in having a year- round resident training program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 1978, which helped forge the team into a
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