|
| |
U.S. Men Win Volleyball Gold After Stabbing Tragedy
24-Aug-2008
Written by: E. Van Dril
The team defeated Brazil three sets to one.
Two weeks after Hugh McCutcheon, the American national men's volleyball coach, lost his father-in-law to a stabbing in Beijing and his mother-in-law was placed in critical condition by the same person (who then jumped from the sixth story of a posh hotel), his team won the gold medal.
The American team beat Brazil 3-1 Sunday to take the gold amidst a great deal of controversy and tragedy amongst the team.
For the first three games of the tournament (the stabbing happened the night before the games began) the volleyball team was without their head coach, who was with his wife and mother-in-law in Beijing. McCutcheon's wife (Elisabeth, who was a former Olympic volleyball player herself) then told her husband that it was time to return to his team in the attempt to take home the gold. She then went home, he returned to the team, and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
The breakdown of games where the American team defeated the top-ranked Brazilian team was as follows: 20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23.
Talk to other readers about this story.
|
|
|
|
|
