2003 Women's European Volleyball Championship
The two finalists Poland and Turkey claimed a ticket for the 2003 FIVB Women's World Cup and the first Olympic Qualification Tournament for the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Japan in November.The first six ranked teams (Poland, Turkey, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Russia) qualified for the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, from 5 to 10 January 2004.Semifinalists Turkey, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands also automatically qualified for the 2005 Women's European Championships, which took place in Croatia.Defending champion Russia finished out of the medals for the first time in volleyball history.In the first stage, the twelve participants were divided in two groups of six teams each.