Draft:Ekaterina Antropova

Ekaterina "Kate" Mikhailovna Antropova (in Russian Екатерина Михайловна Антропова ; born 19 March 2003 is a Russian-born Italian professional volleyball player.

Personal life
Antropova was born in Akureyri, Iceland to Russian parents, both of whom were athletes: her father, Mikhail Antropov, was competing in the local basketball league for Tindastóll, while her mother, Olga Antropova née Selivanova), was a handball player.

When Ekaterina was three months old, her father signed a contract with St. Petersburg Spartak so the family returned to Russia and settled in St.Petersburg, where she spent her childhood and early adolescence. She started playing volleyball at the age of 7.

In 2017, she moved in Italy with her mother, first to Reggio Calabria and then to Sassuolo: her first affiliations were therefore with Italian sports nationality.

Following a call-up to a training camp in 2017, which the player did not attend, with the Russian Under-16 national team, as noted by the European Volleyball Confederation, she was registered as Russian; meanwhile, she filed an appeal with the CAS in Lausanne for the recognition of her Italian affiliation as the first registration.

In 2023, the CAS ruling determined the athlete's sport nationality to be Italian, followed in the same year by the acquisition of Italian citisenship for sporting merits.

Career
Antropova's career begins in the 2018-19 season with Academy Sassuolo, in Serie C. in the 2020-21 season, the team is promoted in Serie A2.

In the 2021-22 season, she makes her Serie A1 debut with Savino Del Bene, the club with which she wins the 2021-22 Challenge Cup and the 2022-23 CEV Cup , being awarded as MVP in both cases; she also reached the playoff final for the league title in the 2023-24 season, the first for the Scandicci-based club.

National Team
In 2017, she was called up to the Russian Under-16 team for a training camp in preparation for the European championship, but did not participate.

On August 10 2023, after obtaining the Italian citizenship , she becomes eligible for the Italian national team and is called up in the same year for the European championship.

Club

 * Simple cup icon.svg-22 Challenge Cup
 * Simple cup icon.svg 2022–23 CEV Cup

Individual

 * 2022 - Challenge Cup-MVP
 * 2023 - CEV Cup-MVP