Volleyball is an Olympic sport. Both male and female teams enter the court to play. Irina Kirillova is known both as a player and as a coach. She is one of the few female volleyball players to receive awards for her loyalty to the game and athletic longevity.
Playing career
Some time ago, the conscious part of the country's population was engaged in physical education. The main task of the physical culture movement was to promote a healthy lifestyle. As a schoolgirl, Irina Kirillova passed the TRP norms and was engaged in the volleyball section. The girl was born on May 15, 1965 in an ordinary Soviet family. Parents lived in the famous city of Tula. My father worked at a defense plant. Mother taught literature and Russian at school. In high school, Irina began to engage in the volleyball section of the city sports club "Dynamo".
The tall girl stood out noticeably on the court among her peers. In a short time she took a leading position in the players' alignment. In the early 80s, having received secondary education, Irina moved to Sverdlovsk and started playing for the local Uralochka team. After several tournaments, Kirillova was invited to the youth team of the Soviet Union. In 1982, the team won first place in the European Championship. Irina has established herself as a bright leader of the team. In no small measure thanks to her efforts, the Soviet team won the 88 Olympics in Seoul and the 90 World Championships in Beijing.
Sports longevity
In the early 90s, Russian sport as a whole was in a state of crisis. Irina Kirillova, after much hesitation, agreed to sign a contract and went to work in Croatia. For almost sixteen years, the outstanding volleyball player played for the national team of this country. The presence of a Russian athlete on the site served as a powerful catalyst for the team. The Croatian national team has established itself in the highest echelon of European teams for two seasons. In the spring of 2005, Kirillova returned to her homeland and began working as a coach and translator for the Russian women's national team.
The joint work of Irina Kirillova and her husband Giovanni Caprara as the team's mentor has brought worthy results. Russian volleyball players twice became bronze medalists of the European Championship. In 2006 they won the title of World Champions. But at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, they showed an openly weak game. The family tandem left coaching positions of their own free will. However, Irina did not even think to leave the big sport. In the same season, she was accepted into the team of the Moscow Dynamo. Her colleagues did not expect such an act. An experienced volleyball player helped the team to become the champion of the country in the 2008 season.
Recognition and privacy
Irina Kirillova's sports career was more than successful. In 2009, the European Volleyball Confederation awarded the Russian athlete a special prize for her loyalty to the game and sports longevity. In the fall of 2017, Kirillova was admitted to the volleyball hall of fame, which is located in the homeland of this game, the American town of Holyoke.
Everything is known about the athlete's personal life. She was married twice. From her first husband, she only had a surname. The second husband is coach Giovanni Caprara. They have a daughter, Nick.
