A 9th place was better than Athens (2004, 11th place) and almost tops their best ever 8th place performance at Sydney (2000). This London performance also surpasses their 11th place world ranking.
So how did it all come about?
Under the direction of head coach, Jon Uriarte, the team has excelled. Uriarte's leadership was built from his time playing for Argentina, including a Bronze at the 1988 Games.
After a successful local coaching career Uriarte became Australia's head coach in 2001. He built the team up through a new junior development program at the Australian Institute of Sport.
The result was qualification of the team for the Olympics in 2004. This was the first time the national team had qualified in their own right as they had received automatic qualification in Sydney being the host country.
In 2005, Uriarte moved to Brazil to coach a local club before moving back home to become the new Argentine head coach.
In the push to the London Games, Uriarte was again hired by the Australian Volleyball Federation in 2011.
In June 2012, at the Asian qualifying tournament, Uriarte pushed the Australian team to qualify for the second time at the Olympic Games. Their final 9th placing not only reflects a brilliant performance by the national team but also points to the years Uriarte spent in developing the sport in Australia.
