Gabriela Braga Guimarães (; born 19 May 1994), also known by her nickname Gabi, is a Brazilian professional indoor

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 plays as an outside hitter. She competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, winning a silver medal in Tokyo and a bronze medal in Paris.

Career

Guimarães practiced swimming, tennis, and football in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, before starting volleyball at the age of 14. She joined the volleyball team at Colégio Pitágoras to be close to her friends, and since the school had a partnership with the

Minas Tênis Clube Minas Tênis Clube (short, just ''Minas'') is a social, recreational and sports club from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. By 2013, it has more than 73,000 members. Its patrimony comprises two urban units, the Minas I and Minas II, and two country units, ...

, she tried to join their team. However, she was rejected for being considered too short. She then moved to Mackenzie Esporte Clube, where her aunt had previously won a volleyball championship. Coach Delicélio Rodrigues gave her an opportunity. In her first year at Mackenzie, Guimarães was selected for the Minas Gerais youth state team, which finished ninth in the Brazilian Championship of State Teams held in

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

Ceará Ceará (, ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It is the List of Brazilian states by population, eighth-largest Brazilian State by ...

. Soon after, she was called up to the Brazil national youth team for the 2010 South American Championship in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Guimarães helped Brazil win the title and was individually recognized as the tournament's Best Spiker and Most Valuable Player (MVP). She also represented Minas Gerais in the national youth championship (Special Division), again in Fortaleza, finishing fifth. In 2010, playing for BMG/Mackenzie, she won the Minas Gerais state championship and competed in the 2010–11 Brazilian Superliga, where her team finished ninth. She returned to the national team to play in the 2011 FIVB Girls' Youth World Championship in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, wearing jersey number 8. Brazil finished sixth, but Guimarães stood out individually, scoring 155 points to become the tournament's top scorer. She was also sixth among best spikers, sixteenth among best blockers, fourteenth among best servers, tenth among best diggers, and also stood out for her reception performance. Guimarães continued with BMG/Mackenzie in 2011, finishing as runner-up in the Minas Gerais state championship and playing in the 2011–12 Brazilian Superliga, where the team finished seventh after the quarterfinals. She was once again called to represent the Minas Gerais team in the 2012 Brazilian Championship (youth category), 1st Division, held in Minas Gerais, where she helped the team secure the title. Guimarães played with her national team, winning the bronze at the 2014 World Championship when her team defeated Italy 3–2 in the bronze medal match. During the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship, Guimarães played with the Brazilian club Rexona Ades Rio and her team lost the bronze medal match to the Swiss Voléro Zürich. She helped her national team to win the 2015 South American Championship gold medal and she was also awarded Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Hitter. In May 2018, Guimarães ended her six-year stint with Rio de Janeiro and signed with Camponesa/Minas TC in Belo Horizonte. She stated that her decision to join the club was influenced by the opportunity to reunite with Natália Pereira, who had joined Minas shortly before, and also to be closer to her family before considering a move abroad. She won the 2018 Minas Gerais State Championship with Minas, and competed in the 2018 FIVB Club World Championship in

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

. In the semifinals, she played a key role in helping her team come back from a 24–19 deficit in the second set against favorites Eczacıbaşı VitrA, securing a spot in the final. The team won the silver medal, and Gabi was named Best Outside Spiker of the tournament. With Itambé/Minas, she won the 2019 Copa Brasil held in

Gramado Gramado is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is located in the Serra Gaúcha region. The city was originally settled by Azorean descendants and later received a contingent of German and Italian immigrants. Gramado is ...

, and also became a two-time South American Club Champion in 2019 in Belo Horizonte, where she was awarded Best Outside Spiker. She also helped the team win the 2018–19 Brazilian Superliga and was selected as the second Best Outside Spiker of the season. In 2019, she also helped the Brazil national team win the silver medal at the Nations League, after losing the final to the United States. Gabi was named Best Outside Spiker of the tournament. Following her performances, she signed with Turkish powerhouse Vakifbank Istanbul for the 2019–20 season and played there until 2024. In 2021, Guimarães led the national team to two silver medals — at the Nations League and the

Tokyo 2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She led her national team as captain to the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League where they won the silver medal. During her third Olympic appearance at Paris 2024, Guimarães blamed herself for the semifinal loss to the United States, stating she struggled to find her rhythm despite her tactical importance, but bounced back to help Brazil win the bronze medal against Turkey and was named one of the tournament's Best Outside Spikers.

Awards

Individuals

Clubs

* 2012–13 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2013 South American Club Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2013 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2013–14 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2014–15 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2015 South American Club Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2015 Brazilian Super Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2015–16 Brazilian Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2015–16 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2016 South American Club Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2016 Brazilian Super Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2016–17 Brazilian Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2016–17 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2017 South American Club Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2017 Brazilian Super Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2017 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2017–18 Brazilian Superliga – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2018 South American Club Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with Rio de Janeiro VC * 2018 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with Minas TC * 2018–19 Brazilian Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Minas TC * 2018–19 Brazilian Superliga – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Minas TC * 2019 South American Club Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with Minas TC * 2019

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

–

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2019 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple bronze cup

Bronze medal, with Vakıfbank S.K. * 2020

–

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2020–21

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

–

Champion, with Vakıfbank S.K. * 2020–21 Turkish League – Simple gold cup

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2020–21 CEV Champions League – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2021

–

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2021 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2021–22

–

Champion, with Vakıfbank S.K. * 2021–22 Turkish League – Simple gold cup

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. *

2021–22 CEV Champions League The 2021–22 CEV Champions League was the 63rd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 24 September 202 ...

–

Champion, with Vakıfbank S.K. * 2022

–

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2022 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2022–23

–

Champion, with Vakıfbank S.K. *

2022–23 CEV Champions League The 2022–23 CEV Champions League was the 64th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition Drawing of Lots was held on 16 September 202 ...

–

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2023

–

Champion, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2023 FIVB Club World Championship – Simple silver cup

Runner-Up, with VakıfBank S.K. * 2024 Italian Super Cup – Simple gold cup

Champion, with

Imoco Volley Conegliano Imoco Volley is an Italian professional women's volleyball club based in Conegliano in Northern Italy and currently playing in the Italian Women's Volleyball League, Serie A1. On the global stage, the team is a world champion (current) winning th ...

* 2024 Club World Championship – Simple gold cup

Champion, with

* 2024–25

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

–

Champion, with

* 2024–25 Italian League – Simple gold cup

Champion, with

2024–25 CEV Champions League The 2024–25 CEV Champions League is the 66th edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Qualification Pools composition The drawing of lots was held on 16 July 202 ...

–

Champion, with

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guimaraes, Gabriela 1994 births Living people Brazilian women's volleyball players Volleyball players from Belo Horizonte Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players for Brazil Outside hitters Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in volleyball Olympic silver medalists for Brazil VakıfBank S.K. volleyballers Brazilian expatriate volleyball players in Turkey 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil