PARIS, France, August 9, 2024.- Ending the men’s volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Games with the bronze medals around their necks was the goal for both the United States and Italy, but the Americans were the ones to succeed in the task after they won the exciting battle for the third place held on Friday at the South Paris Arena 1.
With both teams looking reinvigorated after dealing with tough semifinal losses on Wednesday, the United States played better in the decisive moments of each set to triumph 3-0 (25-23, 30-28, 26-24) and claim the last spot available on the podium in Paris.
The victory placed the Americans back among the top three teams at the Olympics after they couldn’t make it past pool play in Tokyo three years ago. It was their third bronze and the sixth overall medal won by the country in men’s volleyball – they also have golds in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Beijing 2008 and bronzes from Barcelona 1992 and Rio 2016.
Seven members of the Paris squad got to celebrate their second Olympic medals as they were also with the team in Brazil eight years ago – setter Micah Christenson, opposite Matt Anderson, outside hitters Aaron Russell and Thomas Jaeschke, middle blockers David Smith and Max Holt and libero Erik Shoji.
The Paris Games also marked the end of a cycle for the Americans, who will see some core players step away from the national team after several years and multiple Olympic appearances – 39-year-old Smith, 37-year-olds Anderson and Holt, 36-year-old Garrett Muagututia and 34-year-old Shoji are the most likely candidates to end their international careers.
For Italy, the fourth-place finish keeps the reigning world champions out of the podium in two consecutive editions of the Games for the first time since Barcelona 1992 – the Italians won five of their six medals in the eight editions of the event held since then.
The bronze medal match victory also lifted the Americans to second place in the FIVB World Ranking, as they gained two spots with the 12.93 points won, which elevated their total to 365.87. Italy, on the other hand, went down from third to fifth, with 347.10.
Aaron Russell was the top American scorer in the match, producing 15 points for the winners. Fellow outside hitter TJ Defalco and Holt also had strong performances, with 12 and 11 points respectively.
With 17 points each, opposite Yuri Romanò and outside hitter Alessandro Michieletto were the top scorers in the Paris 2024 bronze medal match and led Italy on the court.
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