Mirka Francia

Mirka Francia Vasconcelos (born 14 February 1975, in Santa Clara, Cuba), more commonly known as Mirka Francia, is a Cuban-Italian retired volleyball player who won two Olympic gold medals with the Cuban women's national volleyball team.

At 1.84 m (6 ft) tall, she played as a middle blocker before transitioning to an outside hitter later in her career.

She played on the national team that won the FIVB World Championship in 1994 and 1998.

She also helped Cuba win the gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games and the silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games.

She won gold medals with the national team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

In the 1998–99 season, Francia played for Romanelli Firenze in the Italian second division before joining Sirio Perugia for the following season.

She skipped the 2000–01 season because of pregnancy, but rejoined Sirio Perugia the next year.

With the team, she won the Italian Championship three times (2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07) and the Italian Cup two times (2003, 2005).

She acquired Italian citizenship in 2004.

She also won the CEV Champions League title in 2006 and 2008, and was selected as the "Best Spiker" on both occasions.

She then won the 2007 CEV Cup title, and was selected as the "Best Scorer".

For the 2008-09 season, Francia played for the Turkish team Eczacibasi Istanbul.

With this team, she won the "Best Scorer" title for the Champions League regular 2009 season; and the "Best Spiker", "Best Server", and "Top Scorer" of the 2009 Turkish Championship.

Francia was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Francia first played volleyball at age nine, and joined the junior national team in Havana four years later.