Kiraly’s Quest for a Fourth Gold Medal at a Crossroads

They sit relatively undisturbed, growing in status and legend with each passing year.

Sometimes they’re taken out and passed around after motivational talks in front of hundreds, maybe thousands of people, and one of the medals, the one from the 1984 Olympics, is showing signs of age, the once-brilliant colors in the attached ribbon starting to fade.

But for the most part, the three gold medals won by Karch Kiraly lead a protected and uneventful existence, unlike the countless other trophies, plaques and certificates scattered about the den in the San Clemente home of the volleyball star.

Gold medals are precious to the only man to win three of them in Olympic volleyball, an athlete who is currently peering in from the outside in his pursuit to represent the U.S. in Sydney in September.

Kiraly, 39, is at a crossroads perhaps personified by the swirling sand on a windy day at the beach, the milieu where he first learned the game of volleyball and the medium where he ultimately will perform his last kill, block and ace.

If Kiraly and partner Adam Johnson don’t fare well at the Chicago Open, which begins today, Kiraly’s memorable Olympic run--indoor gold medals in 1984 and 1988 and a beach volleyball gold in 1996--might be over.

The Olympic picture becomes much more clear after the only Grand Slam tournament on the international tour, an event that allows teams to earn almost double the usual points toward Olympic qualifying.

Kiraly and Johnson need a boost--they trail young up-and-comers Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana for the second and final U.S. spot in the Olympics.

“Any team that wants to be in the Olympics can’t afford to do poorly at this tournament,” Kiraly said. “If one American team finishes significantly ahead of the rest, it’ll be a really important tournament for that team in a good way. If one American team finishes further behind than the rest, it’ll be really important in a bad way.

“I think everybody realizes the ramifications.”

The odds are already against Kiraly and Johnson, who must work their way through two days of qualifying rounds in Chicago because they have not played enough international tournaments for an automatic berth in the main draw, which begins Friday.

Then again, Kiraly always seems to be at odds with the Federation Internationale de Volleyball, the sport’s governing body. He has openly criticized the Olympic qualifying process for years, lamenting the fact that teams accrue points toward the Olympics only by playing in FIVB tournaments around the world over a 20-month span.

The rigorous travel schedule--which includes such destinations as the Canary Islands and Macau--poses a problem for Kiraly, a father of two who prefers to compete in the domestic tour, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals.

“I did not get married and have kids to have to go on the road for 11 straight weeks to qualify for the Olympics,” Kiraly said. “Adam and I made a conscious choice to be around our families. We play a more limited [FIVB] schedule.”

If Kiraly and Johnson, whose top FIVB finishes have been a fourth and three fifth places, lose ground in Chicago to other U.S. teams, all is not lost. There are six FIVB tournaments left, but their destinations would only please tourists and frequent-flier aficionados: Norway, Italy, France, Portugal, Austria and Belgium.

Kiraly plans to play in only three of them, Italy, France and Austria.

It would be fitting for Kiraly to prosper in Chicago. A native of the Midwest, he was born in Jackson, Mich., and grew up an ardent fan of the Wolverines.

He remembers the signs and bumper stickers: ‘Ohio is a four-letter word,’ and ‘Goody, goody, go beat Woody,’ ubiquitous jabs at Ohio State in the raging football rivalry. One of Kiraly’s earliest memories was attending a Michigan-Ohio State game in jam-packed Michigan Stadium, eating hot bagels in an effort to stay warm.

Kiraly’s life changed when he moved to California. His father, Laszlo, a physical rehabilitation doctor, moved to Santa Barbara for a year of interning after completing medical school at Michigan.

Laszlo, who played volleyball while growing up in Hungary, introduced his son to beach volleyball at the age of 6. Nobody could have predicted that the scrawny, lanky kid would eventually earn a scholarship to UCLA, become a four-time All-American and win three national championships, leading the Bruins to a 93-5 record while he was there.

UCLA Coach Al Scates, who recently won his 18th NCAA championship in 38 years of coaching, remembers the year the Bruins didn’t win the championship with Kiraly, losing to USC in the 1980 title match. Kiraly was livid.

“I think I restrained him as he was about to kick a ball into the TV lights,” Scates said. “He didn’t like to lose. He was always in search of the perfect game. He practiced to be perfect, no matter what the situation was, even if he was sick or if he didn’t sleep well the night before.”

Kiraly parlayed his skills into international success almost overnight, starting for the Olympic team that won the first gold medal in U.S men’s volleyball history in 1984.

Four years later, Kiraly led the U.S. to victory over the former Soviet Union in a gold-medal match surprisingly devoid of political overtones, despite the fact the nations took turns boycotting Olympics on each other’s soil in 1980 and 1984.

“We got along with them as well as or better than any other team,” Kiraly said. “I know it was during the Cold War, but these guys were just 12 guys who liked to play volleyball. We were too.”

Kiraly skipped the 1992 Olympics, opting instead to play professionally in Italy, but he won a third gold medal in 1996, the first Olympic beach volleyball event.

Kiraly and Kent Steffes’ 17-15 victory in the quarterfinals against Carl Henkel and Sinjin Smith, a former-teammate-turned-archrival of Kiraly, is considered one of the top matches in beach volleyball history.

“Everybody’s heart was dropping a few beats there,” Kiraly said. “A lot of people called it one of the most exciting beach volleyball matches ever.”

There is still time for Kiraly, who turns 40 in November and is on the last lap of a career that essentially began 21 years ago at UCLA.

Kiraly and Johnson, who have played in only seven of the 19 FIVB tournaments since qualifying began last January, trail Fonoimoana and Blanton by 84 points for the second U.S. spot. They trail Rob Heidger and Kevin Wong by 518 points for the top U.S. spot.

First place at Chicago is worth 600 points a team, a significant increase from the usual first-place award of 340 points.

The simple question--can Kiraly qualify for the Olympics and win a fourth gold medal?--is answered with equal simplicity by his former college coach.

“If it’s possible, you can’t count him out,” Scates said. “He comes through when he needs to. We’ve all seen that plenty of times in the past.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Provisional Olympic Volleyball Qualifying

Beach volleyball event at Olympics will be held on Bondi Beach, Sydney, from Sept. 16-26. Where the U.S. team competition stands (Points awarded at the Chicago Open include 600 for first-place team, 540 for second, 480 for third and 420 for fourth. Top two teams from each country on Aug. 14 qualify for Olympics):

TOP U.S. TEAMS, MEN

1. Kevin Wong-Rob Heidger: 1,864 points

2. Dain Blanton-Eric Fonoimoana: 1,430

3. Karch Kiraly-Adam Johnson: 1,346

4. Sinjin Smith-Carl Henkel: 1,320

5. Bill Boullianne-Ian Clark: 902

TOP U.S. TEAMS, WOMEN

1. Jenny Johnson Jordan-Annett Davis: 2,512 points

2. Liz Masakayan-Elaine Youngs: 2,248

3. Lisa Arce-Barbra Fontana: 1,734

4. Misty May-Holly McPeak: 1,462

5. Linda Hanley-Nancy Reno: 1,050

*

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL

REMAINING TOURNAMENTS, MEN

Chicago: Today-Sunday

Stavanger, Norway: July 5-9

Lignano, Italy: July 12-16

Marseilles, France: July 19-23

Espinho, Portugal: July 26-30

Klagenfurt, Austria: Aug. 2-6

Ostend, Belgium: Aug. 9-13

REMAINING TOURNAMENTS, WOMEN

Chicago: Friday-July 4

Berlin: July 12-16

Marseilles, France: July 18-22

Espinho, Portugal: July 25-29

Osaka, Japan: Aug. 2-6

Dalian, China: Aug. 9-13