Valentina Gottardi is an Italian beach volleyball player. She with Marta Menegatti played at 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She is originally from Modena Italy and currently lives in Formia.
In Women’s Beach volleyball Representing Italy she won Silver medal at the 2024 European Beach Volleyball Championships that took place from 13th to 18th August 2024 in The Hague, Arnhem, and Apeldoorn in the Netherlands.
She also stood First at World Tour Saquarema 2023, Second at World Tour Edminton 2023, Second at World Tour Madrid 2022, Second at World Tour Lecce 2022 and Fifth at World Championships U19 2021
Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Valentina Gottardi an exceptionally talented Italian Beach volleyball player, Silver medalist of 2024 European Beach Volleyball Championships, here she talks about her fitness routine, her diet, and her success story.
Namita Nayyar:
You were born in Modena, Italy. Where did you have your early education and beach volleyball training? Now you study at at Unimore – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and presently live in Formia. You stood 5th at World Championships U19 2021. This later propelled your career to the height where you have been at the top of the world as a beach volleyball player. Tell us more about your professional journey of exceptional hard work, tenacity, and endurance?
Valentina Gottardi:
I was born in Modena, a city strongly devoted to indoor volleyball and characterized by the presence of professional teams, both female and male, that compete at the highest level in Europe. Traditionally in town there are also many youth teams programs, and this is where my career started. My family has always been sporty and has passed on to me the basic values of sport, immediately integrating them into my personal growth. Before arriving at indoor volleyball, I practiced many disciplines, including tennis, swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.
But it was in volleyball, first indoors and even more later on the sand, that I found my best expression. The complete transition to beach volleyball occurred towards the end of high school, which I attended in Modena. At that time, I already had a clear idea of which studies I preferred and where I excelled: STEM subjects.
So at the end of 2020, the Italian Volleyball Federation saw me playing and decided to involve me in the Club Italia youth project: an under-18 permanent training group based in Formia, a beautiful sea location south of Rome. Formia is an iconic location where various generations of Italian Olympians trained.
Thanks to the hard work put together with an extraordinary team of coaches and conditioning trainers, completed by an excellent medical staff with specialists in sport medicine, physiotherapy, dietetics and psychology, after just one year, at the end of 2021, I placed fifth at the U19 world championship in Phuket, Thailand.
I had just enrolled at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, choosing a degree in Management Engineering, following up on my educational aspirations. The Tokyo Olympics had ended not many months before, and the Italian Volleyball Federation was preparing the program for Paris 2024. It was then that I was brought into the senior national team project, with Marta Menegatti as my teammate, who had already played in three Olympics.
At this moment, after my first Olympics in France (and her fourth) and a silver medal at the European Championship held last August in Holland, our couple occupies the sixth place in the world FIVB beach volleyball ranking.
Namita Nayyar:
It is a dream for a beach volleyball player to play in the European Beach Volleyball Championships. You won the Silver medal in the 2024 European Beach Volleyball Championships that took place from 13 to 18 August 2024 in The Hague, Arnhem, and Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. Tell us more about this spectacular achievement of yours?
Valentina Gottardi:
The Netherlands hosted an extraordinary edition of the European Championships. The Dutch volleyball culture is at the highest level, and it was very motivating to be supported by a competent audience that applauded every single match. The tournament was played towards the end of the season, but thanks to a dedicated training micro-cycle, I managed to gather the right energy to win my first medal in a European championship in a final played in the magnificent setting of Scheveningen, the beach of The Hague.
Namita Nayyar:
You stood 2nd at World Tour Madrid 2022 that was held from 19.5.22 to 23.5.22 and also at World Tour Lecce 2022 that was held from 7.7.22 to 11.7.22. How does such winning honour’s act as a catalyst in your metriotic rise as a world leading beach volleyball player?
Valentina Gottardi:
The top beach volleyball world circuit is the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, organized by the world volleyball federation, the FIVB. The basic tournaments of this circuit are the so-called Futures. They are the entry level for any young player. Getting on the podium immediately in 2022 allowed me to quickly move on to the next level of tournaments, the Challenges.
Having collected a few podiums again at this higher level, including a victory in Brazil in April 2023, I have been pretty soon able to consolidate my presence at the Elite 16 level, the top of the circuit. Considering that the points you collect in the Elite16 are the biggest contributors to the race towards the Olympics, I see the first Futures played as the beginning of my rapid ascend.
Full Interview is Continued on the Next Page
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President of womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied, or hosted in part or full anywhere without express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2025 Women Fitness
Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Publisher: Source link
