Olympics-Volleyball-Poland end 20-year quarter-final jinx to advance

Paris 2024 Olympics - Volleyball - Men's Quarterfinals - Slovenia vs Poland - South Paris Arena 1, Paris, France - August 05, 2024. Wilfredo Leon Venero of Poland, Tine Urnaut of Slovenia, Jan Kozamernik of Slovenia and Rok Mozic of Slovenia in action. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

PARIS (Reuters) - Poland beat Slovenia 3-1 in men's volleyball on Monday to finally cross the quarter-final hurdle at the Olympics having been eliminated in the last-eight at every Games since 2004.

Gold medallists in 1976 and semi-finalists in 1980, Poland had failed to reach the medal rounds for 44 years. Now the number one ranked team in the world, they had also fallen in the quarter-finals in Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo.