Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 23, 2026

Francesca Piccinini

Francesca Piccinini is a former Italian volleyball player. Making her debut for Italy on 10 June 1995 against the United States, she has represented Italy four times at the Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the Women's National Team, winning the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship in Germany. She was inspired to become a professional volleyball player by the Japanese anime Attack No. 1, shown in Italy in the 1980s under the title Mimì e la nazionale della pallavolo.

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Francesca Piccinini
Personal information
Born (1979-01-10) 10 January 1979
Massa, Italy
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb)
Spike325 cm (128 in)
Block298 cm (117 in)
Volleyball information
PositionWing Spiker
National team
1995–2016Italy
Medal record
Women's volleyball
Representing  Italy
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2002 Germany Team
World Grand Champions Cup
Gold medal – first place 2009 Tokyo/Fukuoka Team
FIVB World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2007 Japan Team
FIVB World Grand Prix
Silver medal – second place 2004 Reggio Calabria Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Sendai Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Reggio Calabria Team
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Yokohama Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Ningbo Team
European Championship
Gold medal – first place 2007 Belgium Team
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poland Team
Silver medal – second place 2001 Bulgaria Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Croatia Team
Mediterranean Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Pescara Team

Francesca Piccinini (born 10 January 1979 in Massa) is a former Italian volleyball player. Making her debut for Italy on 10 June 1995 against the United States, she has represented Italy four times (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) at the Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the Women's National Team, winning the gold medal at the 2002 World Championship in Germany. She was inspired to become a professional volleyball player by the Japanese anime Attack No. 1, shown in Italy in the 1980s under the title Mimì e la nazionale della pallavolo.

In 2004, she appeared nude in a calendar published by the Italian magazine Men's Health and modeled for Liu·Jo.1

Playing professionally with the Italian club Volley Bergamo, she won the "Most Valuable Player" award when her team won the 2009–10 CEV Indesit Champions League title.2

Piccinini played with her national team at the 2014 World Championship.3 There her team ended up in fourth place after losing the bronze medal match 2–3 to Brazil.4

In 2016, she again became "Most Valuable Player" when her team, Pomì Casalmaggiore, claimed the 2015–16 CEV DenizBank Champions League title 3–0 over the Turkish VakıfBank Istanbul.5

Clubs

Awards

Individuals

Clubs

References

References

  1. "2004: FRANCESCA PICCININI" (in Italian). Men's Health. 2014. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  2. CEV. "Volley BERGAMO wins 2010 CEV Indesit European Champions League!". Archived from the original on 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
  3. "USA win first World Championship title, China and Brazil complete the podium". Milan, Italy: FIVB. 2014-05-11. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  4. Carneiro, Leandro (2014-10-12). "Brasil passa sufoco e quase toma virada, mas conquista bronze ante Itália". UOL (in Portuguese). Milan, Italy. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  5. "Volley, la Champions torna in Italia: trionfo Casalmaggiore". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Montichiari, Italy. 2016-04-10. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
External links