Mirka Francia
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women’s Volleyball | |||
Competitor for  Cuba |
|||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | Team Competition | |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | Team Competition | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1994 Brazil | Team Competition | |
| Gold | 1998 Japan | Team Competition | |
Mirka Francia (born 14 February 1975) is a Cuban-Italian volleyball player who has won two Olympic gold medals with the Cuba women's national volleyball team. At 1.84 meters (6 feet) tall, she played as a blocker before becoming a hitter in 2004.
[edit] Life and career
Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Francia first played volleyball at age ten and joined the junior national team in Havana four years later. With the national team she won two gold medals, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She also played on the Cuban national team that won the Volleyball World Championship in 1994 and 1998.
In the 1998-1999 season she played for Romanelli Firenze in the Italian second division before joining Sirio Perugia for the following season. She skipped the 2000-2001 season because of pregnancy, but rejoined Sirio Perugia the next year and continues to play for that team today. With the team she has won the Italian Championship three times (2002-2003, 2004-2005, 2006-2007) and the Italian Cup two times (2003, 2005). Despar Sirio also won the Women's CEV Champions League in 2006 and the 2007 CEV Cup. She acquired Italian citizenship in 2004, but has declined to play for the Italy women's national volleyball team due to family matters. For season 2008/2009 she will play for the turkish team Eczacibasi Istanbul
