Leigh-Ann Naidoo (born 12 July 1976 in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

) is a South African beach volleyball player. Naidoo began her career at the

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the ' ( FIVB), the ...

in 1999 attending only the

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

Open alongside Alena Schurkova. Already with partner Julia Willand she attended more stages in the 2004 season culminating with the participation in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, in Athens. They lost all three matches in the group stage and did not advance to the medal round.

Personal life

Naidoo currently resides in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and has been with her partner, Kelly Gillespie, since 2007. She is openly gay and in 2006 became an ambassador and keynote speaker of the

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Naidoo was previously a Palestinian solidarity activist and, in 2016, participated in the

Women's Boat to Gaza The Women's Boat to Gaza (WBG) was an initiative by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in 2016 to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The WBG consisted of an entirely female crew and one ship, ''Zaytouna-Oliva''. It started from B ...

, an attempt to break the Israel maritime blockade of Hamas controlled Gaza. She was detained by Israeli authorities, processed and returned to South Africa within a day.

References

External links

* * * 1976 births Living people South African beach volleyball players Olympic beach volleyball players for South Africa Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Durban LGBT volleyball players South African lesbian sportswomen Women's beach volleyball players {{SouthAfrica-volleyball-bio-stub