The Story Behind the Trophy: Why Symbols Matter in Sport More Than We Think
- Elizaveta Bracht
- Jan 8
- 5 min read
I still remember the room. A long board table, the quiet tension that fills the air before a big presentation. I walked in holding a tube that carried months of imagination, sketches, and conversations inside it. It contained the concept for a new Volleyball World Championship trophy — the first redesign in the sport’s modern history.
I placed the renderings on the table. For a moment there was silence. Then the questions began.
“Why do we need to invest in a trophy when the organisers can make their own?” “Why should we spend money on this?” “Isn’t this too expensive?”
And in my head, I thought: Have you seen some of those local ‘flavour’ trophies? The kitschy oversized goblets, the random ornaments, the lack of identity? Is this really what our world champions deserve?
That meeting became one of the toughest in my career. Some board members dismissed the idea outright. But at that moment, I held on tightly to my vision — and to my experience as an athlete.
Because I knew exactly what it meant to stand on the podium and be handed a medal that looked identical year after year, with no memory of what the trophy even looked like. I played at three World Championships and won three bronze medals that were interchangeable. If not for my husband, who built a beautiful display for all my medals and trophies (including my two Olympic silvers), most of them would probably still be sitting in a dusty box in the attic.
And that is exactly the problem: sporting history is fragile if we do not build the objects that give it form.
Thankfully, the leadership that mattered had the vision to support the project, even if not everyone understood it. That single “yes” changed the visual identity of volleyball forever.
The inspiration came in 2012, during a full rebranding of the FIVB’s major events. We were trying to reclaim rights and rebuild sport’s global identity. There was no consistent brand, no unique design language, no trophy that said: this is volleyball.
I asked myself a simple question: What will remain 50 years from now? What will players remember?
That question became the foundation for designing a timeless, modern World Championship trophy that embodied movement, precision, and the collective power of a team.
Together with Swiss creative agency Achtung! and product designers Thilo Alex Brunner and Jörg Mettler from BMCO, we created a groundbreaking concept:
12 vertical elements for the 12 players in a squad.
A hidden volleyball shape inside the structure.
A clean, minimal silhouette unlike any other trophy in world sport.
A colour transition from nickel to gold, symbolising the journey to the top.
Swiss engineering company Eichenberger AG brought the design to life with watchmaking precision.
It took courage. It took budget fights. It took pushing through politics. But the result was worth every difficult meeting.
The trophies that almost never made it to the World Championships
Most people don’t know this, but in 2014 — just before the Volleyball World Championships in Poland and Italy — the two newly created trophies were stolen off a TNT truck in Rio de Janeiro during a global tour.
Only two major trophies in sports history have ever been stolen:
The FIFA World Cup.
The FIVB Volleyball World Championship trophy.
Luckily, we created replicas. Insurance covered the loss, and the show went on. But the story only added to the mythology of the new trophies — a sign that we had created something truly valuable.
Extending the legacy: the Beach Volleyball World Championship trophy
After the success of the volleyball trophies, we moved on to designing the Beach Volleyball World Championship trophy.
The design captured the essence of beach volleyball:
Duality — two players, two genders, one event.
Material symbolism — a gritty lower part for sand, a shiny upper part for gold and achievement.
Minimalistic elegance — sun, ball, beach, distilled into pure form.
And a personal favourite detail: every screw was shaped like a tiny volleyball.
That trophy was recently on the sand in Australia in Adelaide, where the latest Beach Volleyball World Championships took place. Watching it being lifted once again reminded me why it was worth pushing for ideas that are not always understood at first.
Why trophies matter: the psychology and history behind symbols
In ancient Greece, champions received amphorae filled with olive oil — not because they were valuable objects, but because they symbolised victory, excellence, and belonging to a lineage of champions.
The word trophy comes from the Greek tropaion — a monument marking a turning point, a triumph, a moment of transformation.
Modern athletes feel the same. A medal or cup is not metal — it is memory. It is sacrifice made visible. It is history you can hold.
Without symbols, sport loses continuity. Without rituals, victories lose their story. Without design, history becomes forgettable.
When world champions become cultural ambassadors
One of the moments that made everything worth it was seeing what the Italian teams did after their victories:
The Italian men brought the trophy to Pope Francis.
The women brought it to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister.
The trophy became part of national pride — displayed in the highest institutions of the country.
This is when you understand the true power of objects: they travel further than the athletes who lift them.
For federations, leagues and rights owners: trophies are IP, not decoration
Too often trophies and medals are treated as ceremonial “extras.” They are not. They are core assets of a sport’s identity.
A well-designed trophy is:
a brand pillar,
a piece of protected IP,
a commercial asset,
a storytelling platform,
a symbol athletes dream of,
and a cultural object that outlives everyone involved in its creation.
Federations should treat trophies with the seriousness of any major investment. Protect them legally. Elevate their rituals. Build families of assets around them. Create replicas, memorabilia, digital twins, and premium partnerships that respect the heritage of the object. This is how sports build legacy — not just events.
When I look at the World Championship trophies today — the ones that almost never existed — I feel proud. Proud of the courage it took. Proud of the teams who believed. Proud of the athletes who lift them with tears in their eyes.
Whether in a packed arena or in a quiet photo – I don’t just see metal and design. I see athletes’ dreams, Swiss craftsmanship, and the belief that volleyball deserves symbols as powerful as any other global sport.
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