Date of birth: 02/10/1988
Place of birth: Spoleto
Height x weight: 2,02 x 100
Position: Opposite Spiker
First Club: Edilpac Foligno Volley
Club: Cucine Lube Civitanova
First Coach: Vietcheslav Zaytsev
Coach: Gianlorenzo Blengini
Other sports: Tennis, Basketball
Hobby: Videogames
Relationship Status: Married
Olympic Games Participation:
2 (Londra 2012, Rio 2016)
Biography
He’s the face of Italian volleyball in the collective imaginary. His aces and spikes are capable of winning the hearts of the fans and drawing many people closer to volleyball. The “Zar”, as he's fondly known, is also the national team skipper. He was born 32 years ago in Spoleto, where his father Vjaceslav - a former Russian Olympic volleyball champion - used to play. His mother Irina is a former swimmer instead. Just like his father, he was a setter at the beginnings of his volleyball career. Then, in 2008 (after a short stint in beach volley where he also won an Italian Championship) he accepted to change his position moving to hitter and drawing attention from the National Team. Today, he is Kuzbass Kemerovo's opposite hitter, has been married to Ashling since 2013 and is a father of three: Sasha, Sienna and X. After the bronze and silver medals won respectively at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Games, he is now ready for the Tokyo Games going for nothing but gold.
Palmares
PrintOlympic Games
3° Londra (GBR) 2012
2° Rio (BRA) 2016
World Championships
4° Italia 2010
13° Polonia 2014
5° Italia-Bulgaria 2018
European Championships
2° Austria-Rep. Ceca 2011
2° Danimarca-Polonia 2013
3° Bulgaria-Italia 2015
6° Francia-Slovenia-Belgio-Olanda 2019
World Cup
4° Giappone 2011
2° Giappone 2015
Other Games