Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian

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 ...

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 Aquidauana is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It takes its name from the river with which the name is shared. The first European settlers were imperial soldiers who arrived during the Paraguayan War and were ...

, Antunes caught the attention of

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

Jackie Silva Jacqueline "Jackie" Louise Cruz Silva, (born February 13, 1962 in Rio de Janeiro) is a retired female volleyball player from Brazil, who won the gold medal in the inaugural women's beach volleyball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, partn ...

at the age of 19. From the first time they played together, in Maceió in 2001, Jackie was impressed with Antunes' style and invited the young player to partner with her in 2002. The pair won the South American Championship in La Paz, Bolívia 2002. After Silva was injured, Talita continued the 2002 season with

Renata Ribeiro Renata Ribeiro (born December 7, 1981) is a Brazilian female beach volleyball player. Ribeiro and teammate Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was ...

as her new partner. They won the championships in the Challenger Banco do Brasil in Natal and they were runners-up in the games held in Rio and Recife. In 2003, she was again champion in Goiânia do Circuito Banco do Brasil, this time with a new partner, Tais Jesus. She also partnered with Giseli Gavio on the Italian Circuit, ranking fourth overall. In 2005, she resumed her partnership with Ribeiro and was voted FIVB World Tour rookie of the year. Their partnership won them several competitions and they became one of the top-ranking teams in the world tour. In 2008, Talita was crowned Queen of the Beach in Brazil. In that same year, Talita and Renata represented Brazil in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. They finished fourth after losing a hard-fought Bronze Medal Match to the Chinese Team. In 2009, Talita forged a new partnership with

Maria Elisa Antonelli Maria Elisa Mendes Ticon Antonelli (born 25 February 1984) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player. She competed with Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. ...

. They won gold in the 2009 Swatch FIVB World Tour in China, South Korea, Switzerland, and Norway. They also won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Stavanger, Norway. Their strong partnership landed Talita and Maria 1st overall ranking in the 2009 Brazilian Beach Volleyball Circuit and 2nd overall ranking in the 2009 World Ranking. Talita and Maria Elisa went to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, but were upset in the round of 16 by a Czech double. Grand Slam Moscow 2012, Set 3 - 097

After the Olympics, Talita partnered with Taiana Lima and won 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 ...

for the first time in 2013. The following year,

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

, a former world champion who won bronze in London, signed to form a partnership with Talita aiming the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Brazil would host in Rio de Janeiro. Larissa and Talita were World Tour champions and Team of the Year in 2015, and were deemed favorites for the Olympic gold. Talita got to her second Olympic semifinal after a hard-fought win over 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 the quarterfinals, but went on to lose 2–0 to the Germans Ludwig and Walkenhosrt in the semi final.

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 ...

(the latter of whom also beat Talita in the 2008 semifinal) then won the bronze medal over the team in 3 sets.

Personal life

Talita is married to Renato França, who coaches male beach volleyball squad Pedro Solberg and

Evandro Oliveira Evandro Gonçalves de Oliveira Junior (born 17 July 1990) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men's beach volleyball tournament along with Pedro Solberg, falling in the qu ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Antunes, Talita 1982 births Living people Brazilian women's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball blockers Beach volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players of Brazil Beach volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Mato Grosso do Sul 21st-century Brazilian women