Karch Kiraly

All you want to know about Karch Kiraly

Medal record
Karch Kiraly
Karch Kiraly
Men's Volleyball
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold 1984 Los Angeles Volleyball (indoor)
Gold 1988 Seoul Volleyball (indoor)
Gold 1996 Atlanta Beach Volleyball
World Championships
Gold 1986 Paris Team Competition
Goodwill Games
Silver 1986 Moscow Team Competition
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Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly (pronounced /kartʃ kɪrˈаɪ/) (born November 3, 1960 in Jackson, Michigan), is an American volleyball player who is the only person to have won Olympic gold medals in both the indoor and beach versions of the sport.

Contents

UCLA career

Kiraly started for the UCLA Bruins volleyball team from 1979 through 1982. He was named All America all four years.[1] While playing in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion under coach Al Scates, he led UCLA to three NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships in 1979 (undefeated season), 1981, and 1982 (undefeated season). Over the four years under Kiraly, UCLA won 129 matches and lost only 5.[1]

Kiraly won Most Outstanding Player in 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into UCLA's Hall of Fame in 1993.[2]

At UCLA, Kiraly studied Biochemistry and graduated cum laude in June 1983 with a 3.34 cumulative GPA.[1]

1988 Olympics

Kiraly was popularly called the "Thunderball in Volleyball."[citation needed] He went on to become a fixture on the national team through much of the 1980s as a passer/outside hitter in the "two-man" or "swing hitter" serve reception system created by Doug Beals in 1983. [3] Team USA would win Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 with Kiraly. He was team captain for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, wearing #15, and was also named by FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) as the top player in the world in 1986 and 1988.[citation needed]

After the 1988 Olympics, he retired from the national team. After a stint of club volleyball in Italy with Steve Timmons (Il Messaggero of Ravenna), he returned to the U.S. to play beach volleyball full time. Kiraly has won a record[citation needed] 148 professional beach volleyball titles, and partnered with Kent Steffes to win the first men's Olympic beach volleyball tournament in 1996. Even in his mid-40s, he continued to compete effectively against far younger players; his early-2000s partnership with Mike Lambert revitalized his career. Kiraly's most recent win came in August 2005, when he and Lambert won an AVP tournament in Huntington Beach, California. He has won over $3 million in beach volleyball, also a record.[citation needed]

AVP

 Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (July 2008)

In 2002, at the age of 42, Kiraly began training with Mike Rangel, a noted fitness coach and founder of Southern California-based PlyoCity. Kiraly went on to record another 6 AVP tournament victories, two with partner Brent Doble in 2002 and 2003, and four with Lambert in 2004 and 2005.

In 2006, Kiraly partnered with Larry Witt. In 2007, Kiraly partnered with Kevin Wong.

Karch retired from the AVP tour at the end of the 2007 season, but as of 2008 still works as a broadcaster for ESPN in addition to continuing color commentary for AVP on NBC broadcasts. Kiraly served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of Beach Volleyball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [4]

Personal

Kiraly resides in San Clemente, California, with his wife Janna and two sons, Kristian and Kory. His father, Laszlo Kiraly, had played for the Hungarian national volleyball team[5].

He babysat Misty May-Treanor when he was younger.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Karch Kiraly at AVP.COM". Retrieved on 2008-08-25.
  2. ^ http://uclabruins.cstv.com/ot/hof-inductees.html
  3. ^ "Doug Beal named CEO of USA Volleyball". USA Volleyball (2004-11-12).
  4. ^ Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup
  5. ^ "Karch Kiraly". Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Retrieved on 2008-08-22.
  6. ^ Jane Barrett (2008-07-24). "U.S. golden girls appear unstoppable". Reuters. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.

External links

Preceded by
Par J. Arvidsson
Rowdy Gaines
Oliver Luck
Kenneth W. Sims
Lynette Woodard		 NCAA Top Five Award
Class of 1983
Bruce Baumgartner
John Elway
Richard J. Giusto
Charles F. Kiraly
David R. Rimington		 Succeeded by
John E. Frank
Beth Heiden
Terrell L. Hoage
Stefan G. Humphries
Steve Young
v • d • e
Image:Med 1.png Olympic champions in beach volleyball Image:Med 1.png
Women
Men
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karch_Kiraly"

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