Paolo
Nicolai
Italy
·
Beach Volleyball
Date of birth | 8 June 1988 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | Ortona, Italy |
Age | 38 |
Nationality | Italy |
Career start | 2006 |
Discipline | Beach Volleyball |
Although he first appeared on the international scene in 2008, it wasn't until three years later, when he linked up with Daniele Lupo, that Paulo Nicolai's career really took off. The new team immediately showed great potential and clinched their first world tour podium at the 2012 Grand Slam in Beijing.
Due to some more remarkable results in the course of that season, Nicolai and Lupo qualified for London, where they came in fifth.
In 2014 they won the European Beach Volleyball Championship and became the first Italian beach volleyball team to win this competition. Also that year, they won the gold medal at China’s Fuzhou Open. In 2015 the duo came third at the Sochi Open in Russia, while in 2016 they finished second in Rio and were also crowned European Champions once again.
The 2017 season helped to consolidate Lupo and Nicolai at the top of world beach volleyball. On the World Tour they won two silver medals and three bronzes and were crowned European Champions for the third time.
They started the 2018 season with second place in the Fort Lauderdale Major, which meant they became the first Italian partnership to reach first place in the world rankings.
In 2020 the pair took third place at the European Championships as they proved they will once again be in contention in Tokyo.