Paola Egonu

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Paola Egonu
Paola Egonu.jpg
Personal information
Full namePaola Ogechi Egonu
NationalityItalian
Born (1998-12-18) 18 December 1998 (age 24)
Cittadella, Italy
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Spike3.44 m (135 in)
Block3.21 m (126 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOpposite
Current clubTurkey VakıfBank S.K.[2]
Career
YearsTeams
2013–2017Italy Club Italia
2017–2019Italy AGIL Novara
2019–2022Italy Imoco
2022–Turkey VakıfBank S.K.
National team
2015–2022Italy Italy
Honours
Women’s volleyball
Representing  Italy
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
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 (born 18 December 1998) is an Italian volleyball player.[3] She plays for Turkish volleyball club VakıfBank S.K. and was part of the Italy women's national volleyball team until 2022 when she is considering leaving from the team allegedly due to racism.[4]

She participated at the 2018 Montreux Volley Masters,[1] 2018 FIVB Volleyball World Championship,[5] and 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League.[6]

On club level she played for Club Italia in 2015.[7] She was selected to play the Italian League All-Star game in 2017.[8] In 2017 she moved to AGIL Novara.

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

She was one of the flagbearers of the Olympic Flag at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.[citation needed]

Personal life

Egonu was born in Cittadella, in Veneto, to Nigerian parents. Her father, Ambrose, is Igbo from Imo State and her mother, Eunice, from Benin City.[10][11] She has two siblings, Angela and Andrea.[12] Her cousin Terry Enweonwu is a volleyball player as well.[13]

In November 2018, in an interview for the Corriere della Sera, she came out, revealing to have a girlfriend that comforted her after the defeat at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.[14][15] Later on, her girlfriend's name was revealed: she is the volleyball player Katarzyna Skorupa.[16]

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.[17]

In the season 2020-2021, she co-presented the italian show Le Iene.[18]

After the conclusion of the 2022 FIVB World Championship, Egonu was captured on video telling her manager "This is my last game with the national team.”, following the bronze medal match against the United States, leading to speculation that she was quitting the team. She later confirmed these reports, stating she is considering taking an indefinite pause from the team due to persistent racism she faces.[4]

Awards

Clubs

Individuals

References

  1. ^ a b "Player - Paola Ogechi Egonu - Montreux Volley Masters 2018". www.volleymasters.ch. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  2. ^ "PTUR W: President of VakıfBank formalizes mega-transfer – "Egonu is now our player"". worldofvolley. World of Volley. 2022-05-23. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Paola, Sara e Valentina: è colorata la nuova Italia del volley femminile". Corriere.it. Eleonora Cozzari. 2016-01-07. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Top Volleyball Player Mulls Quitting Italy Team Over Racism". Bloomberg (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  5. ^ "Player - Paola Ogechi Egonu - FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Japan 2018". japan2018.fivb.com. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  6. ^ "Player - Paola Ogechi Egonu - FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2018". www.volleyball.world. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  7. ^ "Team Roster – Italy". FIVB.org. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  8. ^ "All Star Game: A Bergamo la sfida Selezione Italia vs Resto del Mondo" (in Italian). Bergamo: Volleyball.it. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Paola Egonu è la donna dell'anno D: la campionessa di volley premiata dalle lettrici" (in Italian). 12 December 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. ^ Cozzari, Eleonora (7 January 2016). "Paola, Sara e Valentina: è colorata la nuova Italia del volley femminile" (in Italian). Bergamo: Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  11. ^ 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). Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  12. ^ "Paola Egonu: "Schiaccio anche il razzismo. Il futuro? Da avvocato"". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ^ "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. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ^ Morvillo, Candida (2018-03-11). "Paola Egonu: "La lezione della mia fidanzata dopo le lacrime in Giappone"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  15. ^ "Volley, Egonu: "Ho una fidanzata"". La Gazzetta dello Sport - Tutto il rosa della vita (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  16. ^ Sport, Redazione (2018-11-11). "Gazzetta: Egonu, la sconfitta in Supercoppa e il bacio alla fidanzata Skorupa Foto". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  17. ^ "Volley, Paola Egonu protagonista nel nuovo film della Disney: sarà la voce di Sognaluna in Soul". OA Sport (in Italian). 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  18. ^ "Da Madame alla Canalis, ecco le dieci conduttrici de "Le Iene"". Tgcom24 (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-01-06.
Awards
Preceded by Best Opposite Spiker of
World Championship
2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Most Valuable Player of
FIVB Nations League
2022 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Best Opposite Hitter of
FIVB Nations League
2022 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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