Serbia, Türkiye and Poland seal Paris 2024 Olympic Games berths in style

Three European sides secured their places in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games women’s tournament, after finishing on one of the top two places in the three Olympic Qualification Tournaments, which took place between 16 and 24 September in Tokyo, Japan, Ningbo, People’s Republic of China and Łódź, Poland.

After winning the titles in the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women and the FIVB Women’s Nations League 2023, Türkiye completed another exceptional tournament, being the only undefeated side between the 24 teams entering the competition in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

Backed by some excellent performances from the MVP of the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women, Melissa Vargas, who finished the matches with 117 points, Türkiye swept their opponents and dropped only three sets in Tokyo, to book their third participation at the Olympic Games, after finishing ninth at London 2012 and fifth at Tokyo 2020.

The reigning European champions dropped sets only against Peru, Argentina and Japan, finishing the matches against Brazil, Puerto Rico, Belgium and Bulgaria in straight sets, underlining once again their flawless form, which has them on a 16-game winning streak in all competitions.

By far, the most dramatic Olympic Qualification Tournament took place in Łódź, Poland, with the tickets to Paris 2024 being delivered only in the last day of competition. Three teams – hosts Poland, the reigning Olympic champions, the United States of America, and Italy – battled it out until the end, with the final decision being made in the last match of the group.

Before the last day of competition, all sides were tied at five wins and one loss, but Poland had the prime chance, after winning the match against the United States of America, 3:1, erasing a huge upset against Thailand, when they lost, 2:3.

Backed by an outstanding Magdalena Stysiak, who made the All-Star team as the top outside hitter at the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women, Poland enjoyed a superb do-or-die match against the former European champions, Italy, with the winner taking the big prize home.

Eventually, it was Poland which sealed the win, despite of a 15:25 loss in the first set, which definitely shook the confidence of the hosts. With an outstanding bunch of fans in the stands, Poland took control of the match and delivered an exciting match, taking the second and third sets in close fashion, 26:24 and 25:23.

As Stysiak was unstoppable in the final set, finishing as the top scorer of the competition, with 157 points, Poland eventually clinched the 3:1 win with a 25:21 performance in the fourth set, enough to win the group and celebrate with their own sets of fans.

A dramatic last day of competition also saw one European side clinch their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and another drop out in heartbreaking fashion in Ningbo, the People’s Republic of China, with Serbia losing against the hosts, 1:3, while the Netherlands missed out in dramatic fashion.

The Dutch side, bronze medallists at the CEV EuroVolley 2023 Women, lost their last two matches, 0:3 against Serbia and 2:3 against the Dominican Republic, dropping to the fifth place in the final standings, being leapfrogged by Canada and China.

Tijana Boskovic was her usual excellent self for Serbia, which started strong, with four wins, but dropped the level and conceded losses against the Dominican Republic and China, only for their 3:0 win against the Netherlands to be enough for the Paris 2024 ticket.

But the Dutch side, who came back from 1:0 and 2:1 against the Dominican side failed to get anything going in the fifth set, where they lost 12:15 and missed out on the place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which was sealed by their opponents.

In total, seven teams are now qualified for Paris 2024 – hosts France, Poland, Serbia, Türkiye, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and USA, with the other five spots to be attributed to the eligible NOCs based on the FIVB world rankings by June 2024, abiding by the universality principle.