Paris Olympic Games 2024: Why does one player in the volleyball team wear a different colour? Positions, rules, format

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The volleyball competition is one of the events kicking off on the opening day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The sport has been a mainstay of the Games since 1968 and the Paris competition begins on July 27 until August 4. But keen-eyed viewers may have found themselves asking: why does one player in the volleyball team wear a different colour to the rest of their team?

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The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are underway and one of the first sports to kick-off is the volleyball competition.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that one player on each team wears a different-coloured top to their teammates.

This is because they hold a particular position, called the ‘libero’ and are defensive specialists.

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A volleyball squad has 12 members and two of those players can be assigned as a libero, which comes with its own playing restrictions.

Other positions are setter, middle blocker, outside hitter and weakside hitter.

Liberos cannot block an attack at the net or jump and spike the ball, being allowed only in the back row.

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Introduced in 1996 by the International Volleyball Federation, the libero helped defensive strategy in the sport and gave shorter players a bigger role within the game.

Although the squads can have 12 players, only six are allowed on the court at any one time, and they are separated by a net in the middle.

Volleyball has been a mainstay at the Olympics since 1968. In Paris, the volleyball competition runs from July 27 and ends August 11.

Olympic volleyball will be played at South Paris Arena, part of the Paris Expo Convention Centre. The arena also hosts handball, table tennis and weightlifting.

What are the rules for Olympic volleyball?

Olympic volleyball matches are the best of five sets. The first four sets are played to 25 points and the fifth set is played to 15.

Each team has six players on the court at a time and is allowed to touch the ball a maximum of three times before sending it over the net.

A point is scored when the ball touches the ground or when a team commits a fault.

Faults include touching the net with their body, the same player hitting the ball twice in a row, failing to get the ball over the net in three touches or hitting the ball out of bounds.

What is the Olympic volleyball format?

The volleyball competition sees 12 nations in both men's and women's divided into three pools of four, changed from two pools of six.

Teams that win their group-stage matches in three or four sets get three points, while the losers receive zero points.

The winners of five-set matches receive two points while the losers receive one point.

The top two in each pool advance to the knockout rounds alongside the two best third-placed sides.

discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer

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