Brazilian team poses with the Women's World Champioship's trophy
Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 8, 2014 – Some of the top women's team captains in the FIVB Volleyball Grand Prix had their eyes set on another tournament on Friday, when they had the chance to hold the trophy they're dreaming about winning next month.
Brazil, Russia, USA and Korea's women’s national teams had their first opportunity to get close to the FIVB 2014 Women’s World Championship trophy in Sao Paulo on Friday, when team captains - Fabiana Claudino, Ekaterina Kosianenko, Alisha Glass and Kim Yeon-Koung - held the tournament trophy before the first matches of the Pool D of FIVB World Grand Prix.
“I had to control my emotions when I touched the trophy," said Brazil’s captain Fabiana Claudino. "Winning the World Championship is the biggest dream of our team and I got really happy of touching it and feeling its weight today. I hope I can raise it again in Italy."
In their last event prior the World Championship, the four captains and teammates posed with the 10kg trophy in Ibirapuera court in front of more than 5,000 fans who watched the two Grand Prix matches of the day.
“We feel honored to get to compete in this tournament," said USA setter Alisha Glass.
The trophy will be exposed in the VIP area in Ibirapuera Gymnasium during the weekend and will be on SporTV’s entrance hall from Tuesday to Friday and a public exposition is scheduled for Saturday at Kiosk Globo Rio in Copacabana Beach.
The World Championship’s trophy was developed by Marco Heer of Achtung!, a creative agency known internationally for their work in brand development. Its structure is composed of 12 individual pieces, representing the members of a volleyball team. The pieces form a circular top, reflecting the rotation system used on the court and the speed and elegance of the sport. The process of creation took over 120 hours of milling.
The 2014 Women’s World Championship will reunite 24 of the best teams in the world in Italy from September 23 to October 12. Winner of the last two editions, Russia will try to take home the trophy for the third time. USA and Brazil will fight for their first win.