Italy players lined up o watch the outcome of a Video Challenge on the big screen of the Maracanazinho in the final of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. But did their coach get it right?
Lausanne, Switzerland, September 5, 2016 - New technology for volleyball made its way into the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a bang, introducing tablets for referees and coaches, intercom between officials and video challenge to be called by coaches. But who where the most successful of these coaches when it came to questioning the refs' decisions?
Jean Rene Akono of Cameroon was the most successful coach of the Rio 2016 women's tournament in Video Challenge requests.
The 49-year-old coach, who led Cameroon's women's national team at their Olympic debut in Rio 2016, finishing joint 11th out of the 12 participating teams, requested just nine challenges in his team's 17 sets (in 5 matches) getting decisions overturned six times for a success ratio of 67%.
USA's Karch Kiraly was also close behind, with a success ratio of 64%, getting it right seven times in 11 calls.
Kiraly was also the most frugal of the 12 women's coaches, calling for challenges on just 11 occasions from a minimum total of 64 in his teams 32 sets in eight matches.
On the other hand, Italy's Marco Bonitta (45% success) and Russia's Yuri Marichev (33% success) were the keenest to press the challenge button on the coaches' tablets, making use of the new technology on 63% of their minimum quota.
In the men's competition, Mexico's Jorge was both the most reluctant to call a challenge (just four requests in a minimum of 32 for his team's 16 sets) and the most successful, getting three of the four right for a 75% success ratio.
Cuba's Nicolas Vives also called only four challenges in 16 sets, but got the refs decision overturned only once.
Italy's Gianlorenzo Blengini was the most trigger-happy of the coaches, using up 60% of his minimum quota with 35 requests out of a minimum 58 in the silver medallists' 29 sets from eight matches.
But Egypt's Sherif Elshemrely just couldn't get it right. He called for nine challenges in the African side's 15 sets, but only got one right, for a tournament low success ratio of only 11%.
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