Four years in charge of the USA women’s team brought more glory, including Olympic silver at Beijing 2008. But it was her second spell as China’s coach that cemented her place in history. When she guided China to the Olympic title at Rio 2016, Lang became the first athlete in history to win Olympic volleyball gold as both player and coach.
“This award is a great honour,” said Lang. “I am deeply grateful to the IOC and the FIVB [International Volleyball Federation] for recognising my coaching work. There are so many people to thank – from the brilliant teams and players I have coached in China, Italy and the USA, to the coaches and mentors who shaped me as a player and as a person from my earliest days in the sport. This recognition belongs to all of them.”
Lang’s achievements and recognition are an inspiration for female coaches, who remain strongly underrepresented among elite-level coaches. Making up just 13 per cent of accredited coaches at Paris 2024 and 10 per cent of accredited coaches at Beijing 2022, the IOC has implemented several initiatives to help bridge this gap, including the Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH). Supported by funding from Olympic Solidarity, 120 coaches from 22 sports and 59 countries have graduated from the programme so far.
The IOC has also recently published Good Practices to Encourage Women Coaches in International Federations (IFs), a collection of case studies highlighting successful initiatives implemented by IFs – many funded by Olympic Solidarity – to increase female representation among coaches.