Grbić and Andrea Giani have etched their names into the annals of Olympic history. Nikola Grbić, the current head coach of the Polish national team, has achieved a significant milestone. After securing an Olympic gold medal as a player with the Yugoslavian team in 2000, Grbić has now led the Polish team to a silver medal.
Meanwhile, Andrea Giani, the head coach of the French national team, has also made history. The Italian volleyball legend, who previously won two silver medals (1996, 2004) and one bronze (2000) as a player, has now added an Olympic gold medal to his resume as a coach.
This duo joins a distinguished group of only four individuals who have won Olympic medals both as players and as coaches. This exclusive list includes:
- Karch Kiraly of the USA, celebrated for his two golds in indoor volleyball (1984, 1988) and a gold in beach volleyball (1996), and also led the US women’s team to gold in 2020.
- Bernardo Rezende of Brazil, who clinched silver as a player in 1976 and accumulated six medals as a coach. His coaching accolades include two golds (2004, 2016) and two silvers (2008, 2012) with the men’s team, and two bronzes (1996, 2000) with the women’s team.
- Lang Ping of China, who achieved two gold medals across 32 years (1984, 2016).
- Yuri Chesnokov of the USSR, who won gold as a player in 1964 and later earned silver and bronze as a coach in 1976 and 1972, respectively.