Volleyball at the Summer Olympics tiebreaker in the quarterfinals. China went on to win the title, their third in Olympic history, by beating Serbia in four sets in the gold medal match. In the process, Lang Ping became the first person to win a gold medal as a player in Los Angeles 1984 and repeat the feat now as a coach in Rio de Janeiro. China also became the first team to win the Olympics after losing three matches in the preliminary round. The United States defeated Netherlands 3–1 to capture the bronze medal. The fourteen editions of the women's tournament were won by only
United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics swimmer. Dara Torres, who won 3 silver medals after her eight-year absence, became the oldest Olympic swimmer to win a medal, at age 41. Gymnast Nastia Liukin became the third U.S. female to win a gold medal in individual all-around event. It was also a successful Olympics for U.S. team-based sports, as men's and women's basketball teams both won gold, as did men's volleyball, men and women's beach volleyball, women's soccer, women's eight in rowing, and the men's and women's 4 × 400 meter-relay teams. The US won silver and bronze medals in several other team events; women's volleyball, softball,