Zdeněk Groessl

Zdeněk Groessl played for the Czechoslovak volleyball team during the 1960s and 1970s where he won medals at the World Championships, European Championships, and the Olympic Games. Groessl was part of the national team that won the 1966 World Championships when they were hosted in Czechoslovakia. The following year he won a silver medal at the European Championships, and won another European silver in 1971. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics Czechoslovakia finished in third place to win the bronze medal with Groessl playing in all nine matches for the team. Four years later he competed at the 1972 München Olympics where the team finished in sixth place.

Following his playing career Groessl turned to coaching, first with the men’s team of Red Star Praha, and then with the women’s team of Olympa Praha. In 2017 he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Czech Volleyball Association.