Summer Olympics 2000 Cuba rallies to beat Russia

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Friday, September 29
Cuba rallies to beat Russia
Associated Press

SYDNEY, Australia -- The Cuban women maintained their volleyball dominance with their greatest Olympic triumph.

Rallying from a two-game deficit, Cuba stormed back to win a record third consecutive gold medal with a thrilling 25-27, 32-34, 25-19, 25-18, 15-7 victory over Russia Saturday.

Cuba now has won every major international competition since the 1992 Games, building an amazing 35-3 record in world championships and Olympics.

The difference in ability and execution between the two teams was minuscule, and they battled back and forth in a match befitting the sport's two superpowers.

Cuba had a 24-21 lead in the opener before letting it slip away. In the second game, Cuba led 24-23 but again failed to close. Both teams fought for and lost four more game points until Russia pulled ahead 33-32 on a kill by Elena Godina, who then closed it out by stuffing Marlenis Costa at the net.

Regla Torres, Cuba's greatest player, brought her team back by getting her 6-foot-3 frame into the path of the Russian players as often as possible.

Torres, who became the youngest volleyball gold medalist when she played on the 1992 team at age 17, was fearless in the middle, attacking the 6-4 Godina and Russia's other main scoring threat, 6-3 Liobov Chachkova.

Cuba jumped to a 20-9 lead in the fourth game and withstood a late rally. In the deciding game, the Cubans took an 8-4 lead and kept hitting, as the young Russian team folded.

Torres got the final kill, a shot from the right side.

The victory was sweet for Cuban coach Luis Calderon. He had replaced Eugenio George, the national team coach for 15 years, after George left the program in a dispute with sports officials.

Fiery Russian coach Nikolai Karpol, meanwhile, fumed to the very end.

Karpol, who led the Soviet Union to gold medals in 1980 and 1988, had become the most-booed man among the crowds at Sydney Entertainment Center with his fist-shaking tirades against his players. As the Cubans celebrated, he argued with officials over a previous call.

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