Volleyball Legends Kiraly, Torres Meet on Court in Japan

Story courtesy of FIVB

Matsumoto, Japan, (Nov. 3, 2010) – USA's Charles “Karch” Kiraly and Cuba's Regla Torres find the FIVB World Championships and the Olympic Games as comfortable as being in the kitchen is for a professional chef or the bullring for a skilled matador.

Torres and Kiraly were named the best female and best male Volleyball players of the 20th century by the FIVB in 2001 and the duo met again at the 2010 FIVB Women’s World Championship as assistant coaches for their respective teams as Cuba and the USA clashed in their final first round matches on Wednesday.

The two triple-Olympic champions and Hall-of-Famers were happy to pose for the cameras minutes before the action and talked after the match, which the USA won 3-1, about the most memorable moments of their illustrious careers.

Torres, who was part of three Olympic gold medal winning sides between 1992 and 2000, considered her final gold medal as the most treasured piece of her collection.

“All the victories were great, but I have to pick the Sydney 2000 Olympics because they had a very high level of Volleyball with all the teams in very good condition,” she recalled. “I was coming from a two-year injury and wasn’t sure if I was going to be in my top shape. So winning the gold medal in 2000 was something special. The best medal of all of them and my most indelible moment.”

Kiraly, who turned 50 on Nov. 3, didn’t hesitate as he said all three Olympic medals were special in their own way.

“It is impossible to pick one because each of my three Olympic gold medals was special and they were all different,” said Kiraly, who won the Olympic titles in indoor volleyball in 1984 and 1988 and in beach volleyball in 1996.

“The first one was really a nice surprise because we were only hoping for any medal and the second one because we had to play the Soviet Union in dream finale,” he said. “The third was in the first-ever Beach Volleyball competition at the Olympics and nobody knew what to expect. It was also very exciting because it was back in the U.S. and we played (with Ken Steffes) the finals against great friends (Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh) and fellow Americans.”

Asked to comment on the brilliant career of each other both were ready to pay respect and accolades.

“I never saw Karch Kiraly playing, but while I was growing up in Cuba we heard a lot about his feats and of his teammates like Steve Timmons and those other stars of the American teams," Torres commented on Kiraly. "One thing I know for sure is that he was a great one.”

“Yes, I saw Regla Torres playing and I really have no words to describe how good she was," Kiraly retorted about Torres. "Nobody could stop her.”

The FIVB 20th Century’s Volleyball best

Men

KARCH KIRALY (USA 1984-1996) for his performances and courage in leading the USA Men’s National team to win among others, the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal in Los Angeles, the 1985 FIVB World Cup title in Tokyo, the 1986 FIVB World Championship title in Paris, the 1988 Olympic Games Gold Medal in Seoul and winning the Gold Medal of the new FIVB Olympic Event Beach Volleyball in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games having Ken Steffes as teammate.

Women

REGLA TORRES (CUBA 1992-2000) for her athletic performances, courage and endurance in leading the CUBA National Women’s team to win most of the World Volleyball tournaments played between 1992 and 2000, including three consecutive Olympic Gold Medals in 1992 at Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney; the 1994 and 1998 FIVB World Championship titles in Brazil and Tokyo, and the 1995 and 1995 FIVB World Cup titles in Tokyo.

Tags: FIVB, FIVB World Championship, Karch Kiraly, U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team