Mirka Francia Vasconcelos (born 14 February 1975), more commonly known as Mirka Francia, 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]
| Mirka Francia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Mirka Francia Vasconcelos | ||
| Nationality | Cuban/Italian | ||
| Born | 14 February 1975 Santa Clara, Cuba | ||
| Hometown | Perugia | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||
| Spike | 3.24 m (128 in) | ||
| Block | 3.10 m (122 in) | ||
| Volleyball information | |||
| Position | Middle blocker (Cuban national team) / Wing spiker | ||
| Number | 16 (Cuban national team) | ||
| National team | |||
| |||
Honours | |||
Francia was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2019.[1]
National team
editBorn 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
editIn 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
edit- Romanelli Firenze (1998–1999)
- Sirio Perugia (1999–2008)
- Eczacibasi Zentiva Istanbul (2008–2012)
Top Quality Group San Giustino (2014–2016)
Awards
editIndividuals
edit- 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
edit- 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
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Mirka Francia". International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "Mirka Francis". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 22 May 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ^ CEV. "Second Indesit Champions' League trophy for Colussi PERUGIA". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ CEV. "Sirio perugia wins CEV cup after Champions League". Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Voleibol Portol. "Stepanenko y Contreras galardonados por la CEV como mejores jugadores de la primera fase de la Champions" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 August 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
- ^ Volleyball.it. "Turchia: Il Fenerbahce vince il campionato femminile" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
External links
edit- Mirka Francia at the European Volleyball Confederation
- Mirka Francia at WorldofVolley
- Mirka Francia at Lega Pallavolo Serie A Femminile (in Italian)
- Mirka Francia at Olympedia
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame profile
- Mirka Francia at Olympics.com
- Volleybox.net profile
- Despar Sirio profile of Mirka Francia (archived)
