is a retired

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player from Japan. He competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won a silver and a gold medal, respectively.Jungo Morita
sports-reference.com In 2003, he was inducted into the

Volleyball Hall of Fame The International Volleyball Hall of Fame (IVHF) was founded to honor extraordinary players, coaches, officials, and leaders who have made significant contributions to the game of volleyball. The Hall of Fame is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts ...

Holyoke, Massachusetts Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,238. Located north of Springfield ...

. In 1966 Morita enrolled to the Nippon Physical Education University. The same year he was selected for the national volleyball team and competed at the world championships, where Japan finished fifth, and at the Asian Games, where his team won the gold medal. The team was reorganized in 1966, and became much stronger within a few years, winning two Olympic medals in 1968 and 1972. Morita was a key frontline blocker, who had fast reflexes and good lateral movement, but he could also attack from the back row. He had a nickname "machine gun" because he could launch a split-second spiking attack with the setter. Morita was also known for a few other trademark attacking combinations. After retiring from competitions Morita was appointed as professor at the Japanese Sports and Science University. Later he also became manager of the national men's volleyball team and a member of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Coaching Commission. He was selected as one of the best male volleyball players of the 20th century by the FIVB.

References

Japanese men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players of Japan Nippon Sport Science University alumni 1947 births Living people Olympic medalists in volleyball Asian Games medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1966 Asian Games Volleyball players at the 1970 Asian Games Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan Olympic gold medalists for Japan Olympic silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Universiade medalists in volleyball Universiade gold medalists for Japan 20th-century Japanese people {{Japan-volleyball-bio-stub