Jackie (Jacqueline) Paraiso (born September 14, 1966) is an American

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

player. Paraiso was the #1 player on the women's pro racquetball tour at the end of the 1991-92, 1998–99, and 1999-2000 seasons. She is a seven time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in women's doubles, which are more World Championships than any other player.

Professional career

Paraiso finished in the top 10 at season's end on the women's pro tour 16 times between 1986–87 and 2003–04, including her three #1 finishes. Paraiso's best pro season was 1998-99, when she was in the finals of all seven events, winning six of them, including the 1998

US Open Racquetball Championships The UnitedHealthcare US Open Racquetball Championships is the premier professional racquetball event. It is a Grand Slam event with men and women competing from the International Racquetball Tour and Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour, respectivel ...

beating

Christie Van Hees Christie Van Hees (born July 5, 1977) is a Canadian retired racquetball player. Van Hees won two World Championships in women's singles and was the number one women's professional player at the end of the 2004-2005 season. Professional career ...

in three straight games, to finish at #1. That success carried over to the 1999-2000 season, when Paraiso won four of the five tournaments and a second US Open and again was #1 at season's end.

International career

Paraiso has made more appearances on Team USA than any other racquetball player - man or woman - with 25 appearances over 20 years. The first was at the 1990

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

playing doubles with Malia Bailey, and last at the 2010

again in doubles (with

Aimee Ruiz Aimee Ruiz (born February 12, 1975) is a left-handed American racquetball player. She is a three time Women's Doubles World Champion, and a 13 timUSA RacquetballChampion in Women's Doubles, most recently winning the title in 2020 with Erika Manill ...

). Paraiso's seven World Championships are more titles than any other racquetball player. Her first Worlds title came against Canadians

Josée Grand'Maître Josée Grand'Maître (born July 28, 1961) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Hull, Quebec (now Gatineau, Quebec). Grand'Maître won the Canadian Women's Singles title three times, and the Canadian Women's Doubles title 15 times. Her la ...

and Vicky Brown in 1990, when Paraiso and Malia Bailey won 15-13, 15-8, and her last title was also against Canada, as she and

defeated Canadians Véronique Guillemette and Geneviève Brodeur, 15-8, 15-6, in 2008. In between, she won three straight World Championships in 1994, 1996, and 1998.

Laura Fenton Laura Fenton (born June 28, 1962) is an American racquetball player. She won two World Championships in doubles, and finished in the top 10 on the Women's Professional Racquetball Organization rankings seven times in her career. Professional car ...

was Paraiso's partner in 1994, when they beat Vicky Shanks and Debbie Ward of Canada, 15-9, 15-7. Then in 1996 and 1998, Paraiso's twin sister Joy MacKenzie was her partner, as they beat Shanks and Ward in 1996, 15-11, 15-4, and Shanks and Grand'Maître in 1998, 15-7, 15-4. Paraiso won another two titles with Kim Russell. First in 2002 against Canadians Amanda Macdonald and Karina Odegard, 15-10, 15-8, and then in 2004 against Mexicans

Susana Acosta Susana Acosta (born 8 December 1976) is a Mexican racquetball player. Acosta has won several gold medals for Mexico, including at the 2003 Pan Am Games and the 2014 Pan Am Championships. She's also played professionally, with career high rankin ...

and Rosy Torres, 15-10, 10-15, 11-9. Perhaps the highlights of Paraiso's international career are the gold medals she won playing doubles with her MacKenzie at the 1995

Pan Am Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, when they beat Canadians Shanks and Ward, and the 1999

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, where they defeated Ward and

Lori-Jane Powell Lori Jane Powell (November 8, 1971 – November 18, 2021) was a Canadian racquetball player from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Powell was Pan American Champion twice (1 singles & 1 doubles title) and Canadian Champion five times (three singles & ...

in the final. Paraiso and MacKenzie played together for Team USA seven times, and won gold each time. In fact, Paraiso won gold in 23 of her 25 Team USA appearances. The only blemishes have been at the 2003 Pan Am Games, when she and Kim Russell lost 11-9 in the tie-breaker of the finals to the Mexican team of

and Rosy Torres, and at the 2010 World Championships, when she and Ruiz lost to Mexicans

Paola Longoria Paola Michelle Longoria López (born July 20, 1989) is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in both Singles and Doubles, winning both divisions at the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champ ...

and

Samantha Salas Samantha Salas Solís (born December 15, 1986) is a Mexican racquetball player. Salas is the current World Champion in both Women's Doubles - winning that title for a fifth time with Paola Longoria at the 2022 World Championships in San Luis P ...

also in a tie-breaker, 15-13, 13-15, 11-9.

USA championships

Paraiso has won 14 U.S. doubles women's titles. Three of those titles were with sister Joy (in 1994, 1997 & 1998), five with

(2007–2011), three with Kim Russell (2002–2004), two with Michelle Gould (née Gilman) (1990 & 1991), and one with

(2000). Paraiso's also won four mixed doubles titles with Jimmy Lowe (in 1997),

Rocky Carson Rocky Carson (born May 21, 1979) is an American professional racquetball player. Carson's a formeInternational Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in Men's Singles – a title he's won a record five times. He has been the season ending #1 ...

(1998), twice with Joe Paraiso, in 1996 and 1999, and with Tony Carson in 2011.

Personal life

She is married to Michael Larsson, and has two daughters Danielle Rae Paraiso and a 9-year-old named Raelynne Fair Larsson. She has three grandsons, ages 2-8. Paraiso was inducted into the Racquetball Hall of Fame in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraiso, Jacqueline 1966 births Living people American racquetball players Pan American Games medalists in racquetball Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Fort Bragg, North Carolina Racquetball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Racquetball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games