Mr Aleksandar Boricic, President of the Volleyball Federation of Serbia (left), and Mr Miroslaw Przedpelski, President of the Polish Volleyball Federation (right), unveil the trophy
Lausanne, Switzerland, August, 15, 2014 – The trophies for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s and Women’s World Championships have been making their way around the world for thousands of fans to see before the biggest volleyball event of the year.
The trophy has already made stops in multiple cities, around Rome and Italy, as well as Brazil, USA and Serbia.
On Thursday evening, the specially crafted FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship trophy was unveiled at Belgrade’s “Ušće“ shopping centre. The ceremony took place in the presence of the senior and youth national teams of Serbia, as well as former volleyball players including Vladimir Grbic, Andrija Geric, Djula Mester, Djorde Djuric, Veljko Petkovic, Zeljko Tanaskovic and Slobodan Boskan, members of the golden generation coached by Zoran Gajic.
With just over two weeks to the premier men’s tournament, and the women’s event beginning next month, the trophy will make a few final appearances.
On Saturday, the trophy will be on display at the famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - also the scheduled location for future beach volleyball events during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The trophy will be out for fans to see from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kiosk Globo Rio.
Then, the trophies head to Paris, France, before departing for the FIVB Volleyball World Championships in Italy and Poland.
Both the men’s and women’s trophies were designed exclusively for tournaments, constructed using 12 individual pieces, representing each member of a volleyball team. The pieces are brought together in a seamless cylindrical design, symbolising the coming together of the 12 players using the rotation system on the court.
The metals of the trophy – gold for men and rose gold for women – fade from nickel to represent the winning team’s gradual rise to the World Championship title.
Twenty-four men’s and women’s teams will begin their battle for the trophy and the prestigious title. The FIVB Men’s World Championship Poland 2014, will take place from August 30 to September 21. The FIVB Women’s World Championship Italy 2014, will take place from September 23 to October 12.
Watch the FIVB Women’s World Championship trophy tour in action:
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