Mirka Francia
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Mirka Francia Vasconcelos (born 14 February 1975) is a Cuban-Italian retired volleyball player who won two Olympic gold medals with the Cuban women's national volleyball team. At 1.84 m (6 ft) tall, she played as a middle blocker before transitioning to an outside hitter later in her career.[1]
Francia was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2019.[1]
National team
Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Francia first played volleyball at age nine, and joined the junior national team in Havana four years later.[1] She won gold medals with the national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.[1] She played on the national team that won the FIVB World Championship in 1994 and 1998.[1] She also helped Cuba win the gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games and the silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games.[2]
Club volleyball
In the 1998–99 season, Francia played for Romanelli Firenze in the Italian second division before joining Sirio Perugia for the following season. She skipped the 2000–01 season because of pregnancy, but rejoined Sirio Perugia the next year. With the team, she won the Italian Championship three times (2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07) and the Italian Cup two times (2003, 2005). She also won the CEV Champions League title in 2006 and 2008, and was selected as the "Best Spiker" on both occasions.[3] She then won the 2007 CEV Cup title, and was selected as the "Best Scorer".[4] She acquired Italian citizenship in 2004.[1]
For the 2008–09 season, Francia played for the Turkish team Eczacibasi Istanbul. With this team, she won the "Best Scorer" title for the Champions League regular 2009 season;[5] and the "Best Spiker", "Best Server", and "Top Scorer" of the 2009 Turkish Championship.[6]
Clubs
- Romanelli Firenze (1998–1999)
- Sirio Perugia (1999–2008)
- Eczacibasi Zentiva Istanbul (2008–2012)
- File:Bianco e Azzurro.png Top Quality Group San Giustino (2014–2016)
Awards
Individuals
- 1999 FIVB World Cup "Best Blocker"
- 2008 Champions League Final Four "Best Spiker"
- 2009 Champions League Regular Season "Best Scorer"
- 2009 Turkish Championship "Top Scorer"
- 2009 Turkish Championship "Best Spiker"
- 2009 Turkish Championship "Best Server"
Clubs
- 2000 Copa Coppe – Champion, with Despar Perugia
- 2003 Italian Cup – Champion, with Despar Perugia
- 2003 Italian Championship – Champion, with Despar Perugia
- 2005 Italian Cup – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2005 CEV Cup – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2005 Italian Championship – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2005–06 CEV Indesit Champions League – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2006 Coppa di Lega – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2007 Italian Cup – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2007 CEV Cup – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2007 Italian Championship – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2007 Italian Super Cup – Champion, with Sirio Perugia
- 2007–08 CEV Indesit Champions League – Champion, with Colussi Perugia
- 2009 Turkish Championship – Runner-Up, with Eczacibasi Zentiva Istanbul
- 2011 Turkish Cup – Champion, with Eczacıbaşı VitrA
References
External links
- Template:Sports links
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame profile
- Mirka Francia at Olympics.com
- Volleybox.net profile
- Despar Sirio profile of Mirka Francia (archived)
Template:Cuba squad 1994 FIVB Women's World Championship Template:Cuba squad 1995 FIVB Women's World Cup Template:Cuba women's volleyball squad 1996 Summer Olympics Template:Cuba squad 1998 FIVB Women's World Championship Template:Cuba squad 1999 FIVB Women's World Cup Template:Cuba women's volleyball squad 2000 Summer Olympics Template:Volleyball Hall of Fame members
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with broken file links
- 1975 births
- Living people
- Cuban women's volleyball players
- Sportspeople from Santa Clara, Cuba
- Italian women's volleyball players
- Cuban emigrants to Italy
- Naturalised citizens of Italy
- Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
- Olympic volleyball players for Cuba
- Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Eczacıbaşı Dynavit players
- Olympic medalists in volleyball
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for Cuba
- Pan American Games gold medalists in volleyball
- Pan American Games bronze medalists in volleyball
- Pan American Games volleyball players for Cuba
- Wing spikers
- Volleyball players at the 1991 Pan American Games
- Volleyball players at the 1995 Pan American Games
- Volleyball players at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
- Middle blockers
- Naturalised volleyball players
- Cuban expatriate volleyball players
- Expatriate volleyball players in Italy
- Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Italy
- Italian expatriate volleyball players
- Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
- Expatriate volleyball players in Turkey
- Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame inductees