Karch Kiraly

American volleyball player and coach

Born: November 3, 1960

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Who is Karch Kiraly?

Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly ( KARCH kirr-EYE; born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach, and broadcast announcer. He played college volleyball for the UCLA Bruins, where his teams won three national championships under head coach Al Scates. Kiraly grew up in Santa Barbara, California. Kiraly is currently the head coach of the United States men's national volleyball team.

Historical significance

He was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He went on to win the gold medal again at the 1996 Olympic Games, the first Olympic competition to feature beach volleyball. He is the only player (man or woman) to have won Olympic medals of any color in both the indoor and beach volleyball categories. Kiraly is widely regarded as one of the greatest volleyball players of all time. Previously, he was the coach of the United States women’s national team leading them to their first-ever gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and thereby completing the "triple crown" of coaching an Olympic gold medal-winning team as well as personally winning gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball.

Sources and further reading

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MLA

“Karch Kiraly.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/karch-kiraly/. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

APA

Karch Kiraly. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved November 9, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/karch-kiraly/

Chicago

“Karch Kiraly.” thisDay. Accessed November 9, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/karch-kiraly/.

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