Alejandrina Mireya Luis Hernández, often referred to as Mireya (born August 25, 1967 in

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

) is a retired

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

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.

Life

At the age of 10 she started playing volleyball. At 16, Mireya joined the Cuban national team for the 1983

Pan-American 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 ...

, in which Cuba took first place. She would play with them again in the 1987 Games, and Cuba would again win the tournament. After a brief hiatus due to injury, she resumed play in 1990 at the World Championship in Japan where the Cuban team finished fourth. In 1991 she led the Cuban team to win its first ever World Cup in Mexico . Mireya won her first Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Games in Barcelona with team mate

Regla Bell Regla Maritza Bell MacKenzie (July 6, 1970 in Havana) is a volleyball player from Cuba who won the gold medal three times at the Olympic Games from 1992–2000, and the World Championship in 1998 with the Cuban national team. Career She won thre ...

. She would win a second gold in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1996, again playing with the Cuban national team. Meanwhile, she also led Cuba to two world championships in 1994 where she was chosen the best spiker and Cuba won every match with a perfect 3-0. The team would win again in 1998. Mireya retired after a second Grand Prix and a third Olympic gold medal in 2000. Luis is known for her spectacular jumping power reaching 3.39 meter, more than any other player, though being only 1.75 meter tall. She earned numerous "best scorer", "best spiker" and "best player" awards at world, Olympic and continental championships.

Individual awards

* ''

1989 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 1989 FIVB Women's World Cup was held from 7 to 14 November 1989 in Japan. Teams Results Final standing Awards * Most Valuable Player : Mireya Luis * Best Spiker : Mireya Luis * Best Blo ...

"Most Valuable Player"'' * ''

"Best Spiker"'' * ''

1991 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup The 1991 FIVB Women's World Cup was held from 8 to 17 November 1991 in 3 cities in Japan: Tokyo, Sendai, and Osaka. Twelve national teams played for the right to a fast lane ticket into the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Teams Res ...

"Best Attacker"'' * ''

"Spirit of Fight"'' * ''

1994 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship The 1994 FIVB Women's World Championship was the twelfth edition of the tournament, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB. It was held from 17 to 30 October 1994 in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Teams ;Group A * * * * ...

"Best Spiker"'' * ''

1993 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix The 1993 FIVB World Grand Prix was the first edition of the women's volleyball tournament, annually arranged by FIVB. It was played by eight countries from 28 May to 30 June 1993. The final round was staged in Hong Kong. Preliminary rounds Ranki ...

"Most Valuable Player"'' * ''

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 ...

"Most Valuable Player" * ''

"Best Spiker"''

External links

* * 1967 births Living people Cuban women's 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 Cuba Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Sportspeople from Camagüey Olympic medalists in volleyball Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wing spikers Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in volleyball Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games Pan American Games medalists in volleyball Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games silver medalists for Cuba Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games {{Cuba-volleyball-bio-stub