Larissa França Maestrini (born April 14, 1982) is a beach volleyball player from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with

Juliana Felisberta Juliana Felisberta da Silva (born 22 July 1983) is a Brazilian female beach volleyball player who won the silver medal in the women's beach team competition at the 2005 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Berlin, Germany and the 2009 Beach ...

and the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour with

Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was FIVB rookie of the year in 2005, and World Tour Winner twice, in 2013 and 2015. Career Born in Aquidauana, Antunes caught the ...

Career

With Felisberta, França won two Pan American Games titles (in 2007 and 2011) and the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Four years prior, França had had to play the 2008 Summer Olympics with

Ana Paula Connelly Ana Paula Rodrigues Connelly Henkel (born 13 February 1972 in Lavras, Minas Gerais) is a retired female volleyball player and journalist from Brazil, who represented her native country at four Summer Olympics: in volleyball in 1992 and 1996, an ...

following an injury to Felisberta, finishing in fifth place. She also won the bronze medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, partnering Ana Richa. After a brief two year retirement following the 2012 Olympics, França went back to activity in 2014 in a double with

. The duo went on to win the gold medal at the 2015 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals and earn a spot into the 2016 Summer Olympics. The pair participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The pair won their quarterfinal match against the Swiss team of

Joana Heidrich Joana Mäder (née Heidrich, born 2 October 1991) is a Swiss beach volleyball player. She played with Nadine Zumkehr Nadine Zumkehr (born 5 February 1985) is a Swiss beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she played with Simone Kuhn. The pa ...

and

Nadine Zumkehr Nadine Zumkehr (born 5 February 1985) is a Swiss beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she played with Simone Kuhn. The pair participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics tournament and were eliminated in the round of 16 by the American pair of Jen ...

in a nail biting match of three sets (21-23, 27–25, 15-13) in the quarter final played on August 14, 2016. The pair lost in straight sets to Ludwig and Walkenhosrt in the semifinal match. Next they went for bronze. They lost to the American team of

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is an American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerri Walsh ...

and

Kerri Walsh Jennings Kerri Lee Walsh Jennings (born August 15, 1978) is an American professional beach volleyball player, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a one-time Olympic bronze medalist. She is the beach volleyball leader in career victories as of 2016 ha ...

in 3 sets of (21–17, 17–21, 9–15); they finished 4th.

Personal life

França was born in

Cachoeiro de Itapemirim Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (local ) is a municipality and a major town, located in the south of Espírito Santo, Brazil, on the banks of the Itapemirim River. It is the economic hub of southern Espírito Santo, being the most important producer of m ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

, and moved at a young age to the state of

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...

. A sports enthusiast from her youth, she earned a volleyball scholarship in high school and went on to start her professional career at

Tuna Luso Brasileira Tuna Luso Brasileira, commonly referred to as Tuna Luso, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Belém, Pará founded on 1 January 1903. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, as we ...

. She moved to beach volleyball in 2001, following an event held by the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation in Fortaleza. In August 2013, França married fellow female player Liliane Maestrini, about one month after they came out about their relationship.

References

External links