Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The first ever Women's Volleyball Tournament at the Summer Olympic Games took place during the Olympic Games of Tokyo from October 11 to October 23, 1964. This was a very exciting time for volleyball fans all around the world.

Japan won the gold medal, and they were called the "Oriental Witches" because they were so amazing at volleyball in the early 1960s. The Soviet Union got the silver medal, and Poland got the bronze medal.

The final match between Japan and the Soviet Union was very popular. In fact, more than 80% of all the people in Japan watched it on TV, according to NHK. Even Princess Michiko came to watch the final match, making it a very special event.

Qualification

North Korea did not send its team to Tokyo because it did not have friendly relations with Japan. Their place was given to South Korea.

Means of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Country	26 May 1959	Munich	1	Japan
1962 World Championship	13-25 October 1962	Soviet Union	2	Soviet Union
				Poland
1963 European Championship	22 October-2 November 1963	Romania	1	Romania
Asian Qualifier	22-30 December 1963	New Delhi	1	North Korea *  South Korea
1963 Pan American Games	21 April – 3 May 1963	São Paulo	1	Brazil United States
Total			6

Format

The tournament used a single round-robin format. All teams were placed in one group and played against each other once.

Rosters

Main article: Volleyball at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters

Venues

The women's volleyball tournament at the 1964 Summer Olympics was held at two places. These were the Komazawa Volleyball Courts in Tokyo and the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama.

Round robin

The women's volleyball tournament at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held from October 11 to October 23. Japan won the gold medal, with the Soviet Union taking silver and Poland earning bronze. The Japanese team, known for their strong performance, was called the "Oriental Witches."

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR
1	Japan	5	5	0	10	15	1	15.000	238	93	2.559
2	Soviet Union	5	4	1	9	12	3	4.000	212	97	2.186
3	Poland	5	3	2	8	10	6	1.667	180	162	1.111
4	Romania	5	2	3	7	6	9	0.667	140	172	0.814
5	United States	5	1	4	6	3	12	0.250	98	213	0.460
6	South Korea	5	0	5	5	0	15	0.000	94	225	0.418

Final standings

Medalists

The first ever Women's Volleyball Tournament at the Summer Olympics took place in Tokyo from October 11 to October 23, 1964. Japan won the gold medal, while the Soviet Union and Poland won silver and bronze medals, respectively. The Japanese team, known as the "Oriental Witches," were very successful in women's volleyball during that time.

Gold	Silver	Bronze
JapanMasae Kasai (c) Emiko Miyamoto Kinuko Tanida Yuriko Handa Yoshiko Matsumura Sata Issobe Katsumi Matsumura Yoko Shinozaki Setsuko Sassaki Yuko Fujimoto Massako Kondo Ayano Shibuki Head coach: Hirofumi Daimatsu	Soviet UnionNelli Abramova Astra Biltauere Lyudmila Buldakova (c) Lyudmila Gureyeva Valentina Kamenek Marita Katusheva Ninel Lukanina Valentina Mishak Tatyana Roshchina Inna Ryskal Antonina Ryzhova Tamara Tikhonina Head coach: Oleg Chekov	PolandKrystyna Czajkowska Maria Golimowska Krystyna Jakubowska Danuta Kordaczuk Krystyna Krupa Józefa Ledwig Jadwiga Marko Jadwiga Rutkowska Maria Śliwka Zofia Szczęśniewska Hanna Busz Barbara Hermel Head coach: Benedykt Krysik