“We decided to come to Italy because there is a great volleyball culture here with trained and competent coaches, which we don’t have in Russia. “Seeing her in the blue shirt now makes me excited and happy.”. To say it, in a nice interview I gave to my colleague Piero Giannico tuttosportAnd Olga Antropova44 years old, “devoted” mother of Ekaterina Antropova.
Devoted because she is Kate’s shadow, shoulder, friend, confidante and simply her mother and also handles the marketing aspects. Also important is that Signora Antropova studied at the Universities of Modena and Reggio Emilia to obtain a residence permit to study, which would allow her to follow her daughter very closely in Italy. “Our adventure started in Reggio Calabria – told –, hosted by Dina Yasakova, a great Russian volleyball player who later passed away. We then turned to Giovanni Caprara and his wife Irina Kirillova, who referred us to Carmelo Borruto in Sassuolo. It is thanks to them that Kate is now playing as an Italian.”
“Borroto – explained – He took care of the first registration in Italy four years ago and in order to register it, it was found that the Russian Federation had never registered it. That’s how it was, Kate was registered as an Italian player and then followed the Cev entry list for the Challenge Cup with Scandicci. Here comes the lawyer Massimo Della Rosa, who follows the dispute between the FIVB and the Russian Federation up to the CAS in Lausanne and successfully completes the process.”which, as is well known, only now made it possible for the player to obtain the hard-fought Italian citizenship for sporting merits.
So all is well that ends well. Now Antropova, who turned 20 last March, is about to embark on her first adventure in the blue jersey at the European Championships. And to think that she started gymnastics as a child. “His physique, however, was more suitable for other sports” says mother Olga again. On the other hand, it was easy to imagine how much Ekaterina would have grown, considering that her mother, a former handball goalkeeper, reached 190 centimeters in height, and her father, a former basketball player, was almost 2 and 12 meters tall. “Kate was 194 cm tall when she was 14 (which have become 202 today, editor’s note), but weighed only 60 kg. She had the technique, she was coordinated, but she didn’t have the physique of an athlete, so I supported her with a physical trainer.”. Wise decision. Mothers, on the other hand, always see us longer than anyone else.
