Nikolay Karpol, head coach of the Russian women's volleyball team, said on Saturday that he would call it quits after the Athens Olympics.

The ill-tempered guru coach said that it was the time to say goodbye to volleyball.

"A lot of time has passed and indeed I believe it is the right time for me to finish my active career of coaching," he said.

Karpol initially coached former Soviet Union women's team between 1979 and 1982. After three years as Croatia coach, he came back in 1988 to coach former Soviet Union and later Russia for 16 years.

"Behind me there are quite a lot of years of work as a volleyball coach," said the 66-year-old. "I had five Olympic finals and I got two gold medals and three silvers."

The Russian team squandered a two-set lead to lose to China in the five-set final Saturday night.

"There was a time when China learned from former Soviet Union," said Karpol. "Now comes another time that Russia and other countries learn from China."

But Karpol refused to disclose who would be his successor, only saying the new coach would be decided soon.

"This issue has not been decided yet, but you will know in upcoming six months," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2004)