Volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics

As at every Olympics since 1984 for the men, and 1996 for the women, both tournaments consisted of 12 teams competing in two pools of six. In both tournaments the top four finishers in each pool advanced to the quarter-finals, where single elimination matches then determined the top eight places. The competitions were held at the Earls’ Court Exhibition Centre in the center of London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a site that was to be demolished for flats and a convention centre after the Olympics.

Five different nations won medals, with Brazil winning gold for women and a silver for men. This gave Brazil four Olympic golds in volleyball, trailing only the seven won by the former Soviet Union. Its two medals also gave it nine all-time in indoor volleyball, equalling Japan (which won bronze among the women in London), again trailing the 12 won by the Soviet Union (and adding one by the Unified Team in 1992).