Leila Gomes de Barros (born September 30, 1971) is a Brazilian politician and a former

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. She often played as opposite hitter and attacker. She was a member of the Brazilian squad who had great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade), winning the 1996 and 1998 editions of the

volleyball Grand Prix The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was an annual women's volleyball competition created in 1993. The men's version of the competition was called FIVB Volleyball World League, World League. This event should not be confused with the other intern ...

and being rated the most valuable player ( MVP) in each win.

Volleyball career

Barros started competing in volleyball at the age of fifteen. She switched to

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...

in July 2001, but returned to the indoor courts in 2003 to help the

Brazil women's national volleyball team The Brazil women's national volleyball team is administrated by the ''Confederação Brasileira de Voleibol'' (CBV) and takes part in international volleyball competitions. It is ranked second in the FIVB World Rankings as of August 2021. They are ...

to qualify for 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), ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In the Volleyball Women's World Cups, Barros finished as runners-up in

1995 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 1995 FIVB Women's World Cup was held from 3 to 17 November 1995 in Japan. Twelve national teams played in cities all over Japan for the right to a fast lane ticket into the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, US. Teams * — Host * — Afr ...

and

2003 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 2003 FIVB Women's World Cup was held from 1 to 15 November 2003 in Japan. Twelve women's national teams played in cities all over Japan for the right to a fast lane ticket into the 2004 Summer Olympics. Teams were made up as follows: hosts J ...

, won third place in

1999 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 1999 FIVB Women's World Cup was held from 2 to 16 November 1999 in Japan. The winner received a fast lane ticket into the 2000 Summer Olympics. Twelve women's national teams played at several venues across Japan. the teams were the hosts Jap ...

. She also got silver medals in the 1994 World Championships. In the Olympics, her Brazilian team was 3rd in 1996 and 2000. She has also posed in several magazines and was one of the favorite players when she and the Brazilian volleyball team came to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Political career

In October 2018, Barros became the first woman to represent the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...

of Brazil in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

References

, - , - , - 1971 births Living people Members of the Federal Senate (Brazil) Democratic Labour Party (Brazil) politicians Brazilian women's volleyball players Brazilian women's beach volleyball players Volleyball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players of Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic medalists in volleyball Sportspeople from Brasília Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in volleyball Opposite hitters Volleyball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games {{Brazil-volleyball-bio-stub