Sitting volleyball

Sitting volleyball (sometimes known as paralympic volleyball) is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability that entered the Paralympic Games as a demonstration sport for athletes with amputations in 1976 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and played as a medal sport thereafter.

In sitting volleyball, a 0.8 meter-wide net is set at 1.15 meters high for men and 1.05 meters high for women. The court is 10 x 6 meters with a 2-meter attack line. Players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball. It is also possible to block the serve and jousts are generally replayed. Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. There are no athlete classifications by disability.

Skills are largely identical to the sport of volleyball and the following game terminology apply:

List also includes former members (national teams that took part in previous major tournaments).

Defunct national teams

Sitting volleyball was first demonstrated at the Summer Paralympic Games in 1976 and was introduced as a full Paralympic event in 1980. The 2000 was the last time standing volleyball appeared on the Paralympic programme. The women's sitting volleyball event introduction followed in the 2004.

At the 2016 Summer Paralympics the men's competition was won by Iran and the gold medal in the women's contest went to the United States.

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