PARIS, France — Players, sometimes even the best, don’t always make good coaches, but that’s not the case with the head coach of U.S. Women’s National Indoor Volleyball Team.
Karch Kiraly made history playing volleyball in three Olympic Games and is widely considered one of the greatest players ever. He's the head coach for women’s indoor volleyball, and they are the defending gold medal winners.
The 2020 Tokyo Games was the first time the women’s national team had won gold in an Olympics in 60 years, thanks in part to a coach who also has his fair share of Olympic gold.
"I think of coaching as very different," Kiraly said. "I think it’s a mistake to think of those as very similar, the playing, the competing and the coaching."
Kiraly, whose dad played on the Hungarian National Team, won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the 1988 Games in Seoul in indoor volleyball, then gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games in beach volleyball. He's the first volleyball player to earn three Olympic gold medals.
Now Kiraly leads the women’s indoor national team by calm example, with training camps focused on fun and execution.
"We’re going to be best if their hands are on the steering wheel and they are making those decisions," he said.
It's a model that’s working, with a lot of success from this team including winning Olympic gold in Tokyo. Now the team's sights are set on the Paris Olympics.
"We’re going to try and break the door down again," Kiraly said. "Break that door down and stand at the top. We are going for another one."