Volleyball factbox for Athens 2004

ATHENS, July 13 (Reuters) -- Factbox on volleyball at the August 13-29 Athens Olympics:

HISTORY

Volleyball was invented in 1895 by an American physical education teacher William Morgan who wanted to find an indoor game with minimal risk of injury. He initially called the game "Mintonette."

The sport's popularity spread rapidly in the 20th century. World championships were held for the first time in 1949 and volleyball made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 1964.

Beach volleyball, which emerged on the beaches of California in the 1920s, joined the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 as a two-a-side sport.

EVENTS

Men's and women's volleyball tournaments contested on an indoor court by teams of 12 players -- six on the court and six in reserve. Twelve men's teams and 12 women's will take part in Athens.

Men's and women's beach volleyball has two players a side and is held on an outdoor sandy court. The Olympics will feature 24 men's teams and 24 women's. Evening sessions will be played under floodlights.

2000 CHAMPIONS

Men: Yugoslavia

Women: Cuba

Beach volleyball

Men: Dain Blanton/Eric Fonoimoana (U.S.)

Women: Natalie Cook/Kerri Pottharst (Australia)

OLYMPIC PROGRAMME

Volleyball

August 14: Women's preliminaries

August 15: Men's preliminaries

August 16: Women's preliminaries

August 17: Men's preliminaries

August 18: Women's preliminaries

August 19: Men's preliminaries

August 20: Women's preliminaries

August 21: Men's preliminaries

August 22: Women's preliminaries

August 23: Men's preliminaries

August 24: Women's quarter-finals

August 25: Men's quarter-finals

August 26: Women's semi-finals

August 27: Men's semi-finals

August 28: Women's bronze-medal match

<_TABLE><2>

Women's final

August 29: Men's bronze-medal match

Men's final

Beach volleyball

August 14: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 15: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 16: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 17: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 18: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 19: Men's and women's preliminaries

August 20: Men's and women's rounds of 16

August 21: Men's and women's rounds of 16

August 22: Men's and women's quarter-finals

August 23: Men's and women's semi-finals

August 24: Women's bronze-medal match

Women's final

August 25: Men's bronze-medal match

Men's final

VENUES

Volleyball will be held at the Peace and Friendship Stadium

at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Piraeus. The

stadium can seat 14,000 spectators.

Beach volleyball will take place in the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre, also in the Faliro complex. The centre seats 10,000.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.fivb.ch

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.