Francesca Piccinini

Francesca Piccinini was on the Italian volleyball squad at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the first Italian women’s team to compete at the Olympics. She was a symbol of Italian volleyball for over a decade, as one of the greatest talents ever seen in national volleyball.

An excellent spiker, strong both in receiving and attacking, with great ability and a flexible wrist, Piccinini advanced her career rapidly. She débuted in the First League with Pallavolo Carrarese on 7 November 1993 in a match against Olimpia Ravenna at only 14-years-old. After two seasons with the Tuscany club, she moved to Pallavolo Reggio Emilia (1995-96) and then to Volley Modena (1996-97). With this club she won the European SuperCup in 1996 and one Cup Winners’ Cup in 1997.

After a year with Spezzano 2000 Volley and one in Brazil, where she was runner-up with the Rexona Paranà Volei Club, she returned in Italy and joined Volley Bergam. From 1999-2012 she won four Italian titles, two Italian Cups, the SuperCup three times, five European Cups and one Cup Winners’ Cup. In the following years she was with Duck Farm Chieri Volley Club and LJ Volley Modena, while in 2016 she won the SuperCup and European Cup with Casalmaggiore and was named best player. From 2016 until her September 2019 retirement, she was with AGIL Novara, where she again won the title and the SuperCup in 2017, two Italian Cups and the European Cup in 2018-19.

Piccinni also joined the national team at a young age. In 1994, aged 15, she was a member of the silver medal-winning squad at the Junior Europeans, playing alongside girls three or four years older than her. In 1996 she won the Junior Europeans and, a year later, was second at the Worlds. She débuted with the senior team on 10 June 1995 at Vimercate (Milano) in a losing friendly match against the United States.

Piccinni gradually became the lynchpin of the Italian team and collected more than 400 caps. She earned a historic gold medal at the 2002 FIVB World Championships in Germany with a team coached by Marco Bonitta, competed in four Olympic Games (2000-2012), won the 2007 World Cup at Nagoya (Japan) with coach Massimo Barbolini, ahead of Brazil and United States, and, in 2009, won the Mediterranean Games in Italy (which she had also done in 1997), the European Championships in Poland, after defeating the Netherlands 3-0 in the final, and the Grand Champions Cup in Japan. In 2002 she was a recipient of the title of Knight of the Italy’s Republic and, in 2004, of the Collare d’Oro for sporting merits.

Piccinni’s fame extended beyond sports as well. In 2004, just before the Athina Olympics, she appeared naked in a calendar attached at the revue Men’s Health and a year later she wrote her autobiography called La Melagrana. In 2011 she had a small part in a film called “Femmine contro maschi” directed by Fausto Brizzi and was on the cover of the Italian version of Playboy.