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Vigor BovolentaItalian volleyball player
Date of Birth: 30.05.1974
Country:  Italy |
Content:
Biography of Vigor Bovolenta
Vigor Bovolenta was an Italian volleyball player who played as a central blocker. He was a vice-champion of the 1996 Olympic Games as part of the Italian national team and a champion of the 1995 European Championship. He also won the European Champions Cup EKV three times with his club, Ravenna. Bovolenta represented the Italian national team from 1995 to 2008, playing around 200 matches.
Club Career
Bovolenta spent his entire career playing for Italian clubs. He started in the early 1990s with Ravenna, which was one of the leading European volleyball clubs at the time. During the 1990/91 season, Ravenna won the Italian championship and the Italian Cup. In the following three seasons, they also won the European Champions Cup EKV three times in a row.
After leaving Ravenna in 1997, Bovolenta changed clubs almost every season. In the 2001/02 season, he became the champion of Italy again, this time with Modena.
National Team
Bovolenta made his debut for the Italian national team in 1995 and won the European Championship and the World Cup in the same season. In the following year, Italy was one of the favorites at the Atlanta Olympic Games. Bovolenta played in seven out of eight matches, including the final, where Italy lost to the Netherlands in a close match (2-3).
He did not make the national team for the next two Olympics (Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) but returned to play after 12 years at the Beijing Olympics. Italy lost to Brazil in the semifinals and then lost to Russia in the match for third place.
Bovolenta was also a winner of three World League tournaments (1995, 1997, 1999) and a bronze medalist in the World Cup (1999).
Later Career and Tragic Death
In the 2011/12 season, at the age of 37, Bovolenta played for the club Forli in the fourth division of the Italian championship (Serie B2). On March 24, 2012, during an away match against the reserve team of Macherata, Bovolenta suffered a heart attack and passed away a few hours later. He left behind his wife and four children.
