Verneda Estella Thomas (June 21, 1936 - March 30, 2016) is 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 played for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. Before she was an Olympic volleyball player, she was also an elite

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er, winning a bronze medal at the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games opened on March 12, 1955, in the University Stadium (now Olympic Stadium) in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total number of 2,583 athletes from 22 nations marched in review ...

in that event.

References

1936 births Living people Olympic volleyball players for the United States Volleyball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Chicago American women's volleyball players American female high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-volleyball-bio-stub