Richard Edward "Rich" Lambourne (born May 6, 1975) is an American indoor

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. He joined the U.S. men's national team in 2000 as the designated libero. He has recently played for Delecta Bydgoszcz. Lambourne made his Olympic debut at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, helping Team USA to a gold medal.

High school and personal life

Lambourne was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, to Paul and Ann Lambourne. He grew up in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, United States, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city does not include the unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated communit ...

, and attended Foothill High School. Lambourne was badly injured during a bike accident when he was 6. He skinned his shoulder to the bone and mangled the right side of his face. He says of the accident, "I could have been much uglier but due to my loving parents and medical science, I am only mostly unattractive." He served a mission in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Japan, for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

College

Lambourne attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

where he majored in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. He was also recruited by

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

. In 1999, he was the starting outside hitter for the BYU men's volleyball team that won the program's first ever

NCAA men's volleyball championship The NCAA men's volleyball tournament, officially titled the NCAA national collegiate men's volleyball championship, is an annual competition that determines the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in American college men ...

. For the year, he played in 82 games and posted 252 kills, 205 digs, 88 blocks and a .348 hitting percentage.

Career

Lambourne began to play professional volleyball for

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

, a club from Greece. His next club was Aon hotVolleys Vienna. After that, he went to Noliko Maaseik, then to Polish Mlekpol AZS Olsztyn, then to the Russian Lokomotiv-Belogorie. He represented Polish Delecta Bydgoszcz. As of February 24, 2010 he has been disciplinary released.

Clubs

* Aon hotVolleys Vienna (2001–2003) * Piet Zoomers Apeldoorn (2003–2004) * Lamia (2004–2005) * Noliko Maaseik (2005–2006) * AZS Olsztyn (2006–2008) * Lokomotiv-Belogorie (2008–2009) * Delecta Bydgoszcz (2009–2010) * Fart Kielce (2011–2012) * Al Arabi S.C. (2012–2013)

International competitions

Recent international competition *2008 **Olympic Games (gold medal) **FIVB World League (gold medal) **NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualifying Championship (gold medal) *2007 **FIVB World Cup **NORCECA Continental Championship (gold medal) **America's Cup (gold medal) **FIVB World League (bronze medal) *2005 **NORCECA Continental Championships (gold medal) **World Grand Champions Cup (silver medal)

Individual awards

*'' 2006 Pan-American Cup "Best Defender"'' *'' 2007 FIVB World League "Best Libero"'' *'' 2008 FIVB World League "Best Libero"''

References

External links

* * * *
BYU Cougar Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambourne, Richard 1975 births Living people American men's volleyball players Liberos AZS Olsztyn (volleyball) players Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Sportspeople from Orange County, California BYU Cougars men's volleyball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Kentucky American Mormon missionaries in Japan Volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games American expatriate volleyball players in Poland Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in volleyball 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen