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Paola Egonu

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Paola Egonu
Personal information
Full namePaola Ogechi Egonu
Born (1998-12-18) 18 December 1998 (age 25)
Cittadella, Italy
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Spike3.44 m (135 in)
Block3.21 m (126 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOpposite
Current clubItaly Vero Volley Milano[2]
Career
YearsTeams
2013–2017Italy Club Italia
2017–2019Italy AGIL Novara
2019–2022Italy Imoco Volley Conegliano
2022–2023Turkey VakıfBank S.K.
2023–Italy Vero Volley Milano
National team
2015–Italy Italy
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing  Italy
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team
FIVB World Championship
Silver medal – second place 2018 Japan Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Poland/Netherlands Team
FIVB Nations League
Gold medal – first place 2022 Ankara Team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Bangkok Team
FIVB World Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place 2017 Nanjing
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2021 Serbia/Bulgaria/Croatia/Romania Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Turkey Team
Montreux Volley Masters
Gold medal – first place 2018 Switzerland Team
FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2015 Peru Team

Paola Ogechi Egonu (Italian: [ˈpaːola oˈɡɛːtʃi eˈɡɔːnu]; born 18 December 1998) is an Italian professional volleyball player.[3] She plays for Italian volleyball club Vero Volley Milano and is part of the Italy women's national volleyball team.

Early life

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Egonu was born in Cittadella, Italy, to Nigerian parents.[4][5] She has two siblings, Angela and Andrea, and a cousin, Terry Enweonwu, who also plays volleyball.[6][7] She received Italian citizenship at age fourteen.[8]

She was awarded the prize for Woman of the Year 2019 by D - la Repubblica delle donne, a weekly magazine of La Repubblica.[9]

Career

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National team

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Egonu began playing for the Italian national team in 2015. That year, she led Italy's junior teams to gold at the U18 World Championship, where she was named MVP of the tournament, and bronze at the U20 World Championship.[10] At age 17, she participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she placed ninth overall with her team.[11]

In 2018, Egonu helped her team win silver at the 2018 World Championship in Japan; she finished the tournament with 324 points in 13 matches, averaging nearly 25 points per match, and a new record of 45 points scored in a match during Italy's semifinals match against China.[12]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Egonu was a flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremony.[12] Italy placed sixth after losing to Serbia in the quarterfinals.[13]

In 2022, Egonu and the Italian national team earned Italy's first-ever medal at the Volleyball Nations League, where they won gold. Egonu was the leading scorer of the finals, amassing a total of 83 points over three matches. She was named Most Valuable Player and Best Opposite of the tournament.[14]

Egonu took a break from playing with Italy's national team due to racism she experienced in Italy and on social media.[8] She returned to playing with Italy in 2024 under new coach Julio Velasco.[15] That year, Egonu led Italy to repeat its 2022 performance at the Volleyball Nations League, where she once again earned MVP. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Italy won its first-ever gold medal, with Egonu being named MVP and Best Opposite.[16][17]

In August 2024, a newly-unveiled mural of Egonu near to the Italian National Olympic Committee headquarters in Rome was defaced, with Egonu's skin repainted pink and an anti-racism message obscured. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani described the vandalism as a "serious gesture of vulgar racism", while Roberto Gualtieri, the Mayor of Rome, said it was "a vile insult to a great Italian, who has brought the colours of our country to the top of the world, and to an artist committed to fighting against xenophobia."[18]

Professional clubs

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At the club level, Egonu has primarily played in Italian clubs; she played for Club Italia in 2015, AGIL Novara from 2017 to 2019, and Imoco Volley Conegliano from 2019 to 2022. She spent the 2022–2023 season playing for Turkish club VakifBank before returning to Italy to play for Vero Volley Milano in 2023.[19] With AGIL Novara, Egonu earned a CEV Champions League title, two Italian Cups, and one Super Cup. She won the Club World Championship with Imoco Volley in 2019 and the CEV Champions League in 2023 with Vakifbank.[12][20]

As of 2024, Egonu holds women's volleyball records for highest jump, fastest serve, and fastest spike.[21]

In other media

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In 2020, she dubbed the character Dreamerwind (Italian: Sognaluna Dibrezza), originally voiced by Cathy Cavadini, for the Italian version of the animation movie Soul, produced by Disney and Pixar.[22]

She co-presented the Italian show Le Iene in its 2020–2021 season.[23] She appeared as a co-presenter at the Sanremo Music Festival in 2023 with festival host Amadeus and singer Gianni Morandi.[24]

Awards

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Clubs

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Individuals

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References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2023-10-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "PTUR W: Paola Egonu returns to Italy, joins Vero Volley". volleyballworld. Volleyball World. 2023-07-29. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Paola, Sara e Valentina: è colorata la nuova Italia del volley femminile". Corriere.it. Eleonora Cozzari. 2016-01-07. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ^ Cozzari, Eleonora (7 January 2016). "Paola, Sara e Valentina: è colorata la nuova Italia del volley femminile" (in Italian). Bergamo: Corriere della Sera. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  5. ^ Morvillo, Candida (3 November 2018). "Paola Egonu: 'Le mie lacrime in Giappone e la lezione della mia fidanzata'" [Paola Egonu:]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Paola Egonu: "Schiaccio anche il razzismo. Il futuro? Da avvocato"". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). 2017-06-20. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  7. ^ "Volley femminile, Europei U18 - L'Italia piange in Finale, la maledizione continua: la Russia trionfa al tie-break, argento per Enweonwu e compagne". OA Sport (in Italian). 2017-04-09. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  8. ^ a b Staff, Al Jazeera. "'They're going to come at you': Paola Egonu on racism and volleyball". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  9. ^ "Paola Egonu è la donna dell'anno D: la campionessa di volley premiata dalle lettrici" (in Italian). 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Paola Egonu – FIVB". Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  11. ^ Andracki • •, Tony (2016-08-13). "Meet the 17-Year-Old Volleyball Phenom Who Is Taking World by Storm". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  12. ^ a b c volleyballworld.com. "Player to watch: Paola Egonu, Italy". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  13. ^ "Serbia sweeps Italy 3-0, advances to play USA in semifinals | NBC Olympics". www.nbcolympics.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  14. ^ volleyballworld.com. "Paola Egonu's fantastic performance crowned with MVP award". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  15. ^ volleyballworld.com. "Egonu returns as Velasco completes Italy's roster for VNL 2024". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  16. ^ volleyballworld.com. "Italy beat the USA to secure first Olympic title". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  17. ^ volleyballworld.com. "Egonu crowned as MVP in Italy's golden campaign in Paris". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  18. ^ Guiffrida, Angela (14 August 2024). "'Vulgar racism': outrage after mural of Italian volleyball star is vandalised". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  19. ^ volleyballworld.com. "Paola Egonu returns to Italy, joins Vero Volley". volleyballworld.com. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  20. ^ Staff, Al Jazeera. "'They're going to come at you': Paola Egonu on racism and volleyball". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Paola Egonu: Volleyball Star and Advocate for Change". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Volley, Paola Egonu protagonista nel nuovo film della Disney: sarà la voce di Sognaluna in Soul". OA Sport (in Italian). 12 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Da Madame alla Canalis, ecco le dieci conduttrici de "Le Iene"". Tgcom24 (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  24. ^ Rome, Wanted in (9 February 2023). "'Italy is a racist country' says volleyball star Paola Egonu". Wanted in Rome. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
Awards
Preceded by Best Opposite Spiker of
World Championship
2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of
FIVB Nations League
2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Best Opposite Hitter of
FIVB Nations League
2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of the
Olympic Games
2024 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by Best Opposite Spiker of the
Olympic Games
2024 		Succeeded by
TBD
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