Palmira Leitão de Almeida Barbosa, nicknamed Mirita, born 25 November 1961, is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player. She began her career at

Clube Ferroviário de Luanda ''Clube Ferroviário de Luanda'' is an Angolan multisports club based in Luanda. The club owns its name to its major sponsor, the Luanda Railway Company. In 1953 the team has won the Campeonato Estadual da I Divisão (''Angola's top division be ...

in the 1980s and in 1996 moved to

Petro Atlético Petro is a masculine given name, a surname and an Ancient Roman cognomen. It may refer to: Given name * Petro Balabuyev (1931-2007), Ukrainian airplane designer, engineer and professor, lead designer of many Antonov airplanes * Petro Doroshenko (1 ...

. She joined the Angolan handball squad in 1980, making her international debut at the world cup in South Korea in 1990. She has since played three more world cups. In February 2000, at the age of 39, she announced her retirement and her desire to pursue a coaching career. She later reconsidered and played for two more seasons with the newly formed club ENANA.

Achievements

Throughout her career she won 8 Africa club championships with Petro Atlético, 4 African Championships for

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, 3 all-Africa games titles, as well as participation in 4 world cups and 1 Olympic games (

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

). In 1998, the African Handball Confederation voted her the Best Female Handball Player of all times.

Politics

At present, she is a member of parliament for the ruling party

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...

. Following the Angolan elections in 2022, she has been appointed as Minister of Sports and Youth.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbosa, Palmira Angolan female handball players Olympic handball players for Angola Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players from Luanda 1961 births Living people MPLA politicians Members of the National Assembly (Angola) 21st-century Angolan women politicians 21st-century Angolan politicians