Kim Yeon-koung has been named the world's top female volleyball player.
Volleyballworld.com, a website affiliated with FIVB, the sport's world governing body, on Jan. 16 named Kim the best female player last year. The site ranked the 12 best players per gender from Jan. 10-16 by looking at 2021 highlights including the FIVB Volleyball Nations League and the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
"2021 was a milestone year for Kim," it said. "It was the year she led her country through their third consecutive Olympic participation and to her second Olympic final four."
The site said Kim retired from international competition after 17 years.
Volleyballworld.com said she led the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders to a runner-up finish in the finals of the 2020-21 Korea V-League season, adding that she scored 196 points in last year's Nations League and peaked at the Tokyo Olympics.
"Inspired by their captain Kim's fantastic performances, Korea did better than expected at Tokyo 2020," it added. "Kim became the first player in history to score 30+ points in a single Olympic Games match on four occasions."
Giovanni Guidetti, the Italian coach of the Turkish women's national volleyball team, said Kim has it all -- the body of a Russian player, strength of an American player, technique of a Japanese player and agility of a Brazilian player.
