Taismary Agüero Leiva (born 5 March 1977) is a Cuban-born Italian volleyball player. She is the only player to have represented two women's national volleyball teams that won major titles (1995 FIVB World Cup, 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, 1998 FIVB World Championship, 1999 FIVB World Cup and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games for Cuba; 2007 FIVB World Cup for Italy).
In 2021, Agüero was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.
Career
Cuban national team
Agüero was born in Yaguajay in the province of Sancti Spiritus, where she began to play volleyball when she was eight years old. Two years later, she entered in the Cerro Pelado Training Center in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. In the 1993 junior championship, she was named MVP, best setter, and best server. After the 1993 junior championship, she joined the Cuban national team.
Agüero won the gold medal with the national team at the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
Ana Ibis Fernandez
Ana or ANA may refer to:
People
* Ana (given name), a list of people with the name
* Ana people or Atakpame people, an ethnic group of West Africa
* ana (gamer), Anathan Pham, an Australian professional ''Dota 2'' player known as ana
Places
* An ...
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
.
In the summer of 2001, Agüero left the Cuban national team during a tournament in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and applied for
political asylum
The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...
in Italy. She joined Pallavolo Sirio Perugia, an Italian volleyball club that she had played with during the 1998–99 and 1999–00 seasons.
Italian national team
At the end of 2006, Agüero became an Italian citizen after marrying Alessio Botteghi. In the summer of 2007, she joined the Italian national team. Playing for Italy, Agüero won the 2007 European Volleyball Championship, where she was declared MVP. She also was selected as the Best Spiker and Best Scorer at the 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix.
Agüero won the gold medal at the 2009 European Volleyball Championship.
Club volleyball
Agüero played for two seasons for Sirio Perugia from 1998 to 2000. She then she played again for Sirio from 2001 to 2005. From 2005 to 2007, she played for Asystel Novara. In 2007–08, she played for Türk Telekom club 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 ( ...
.
Since 2009, Agüero has played for numerous Italian clubs. For the 2009–10 season, she played for Carnaghi Villa Cortese. In 2013–14, Agüero played for the Pomi Casalmaggiore. Since 2018, Agüero has played for Emilbronzo 2000 Montale.
Agüero played opposite later in her career, whereas with the Cuban national team she was a setter and outside hitter.
Carnaghi Villa Cortese Carnaghi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Guillermo Carnaghi (born 1952), Argentine politician
* Roberto Carnaghi (born 1938), Argentine actor
{{surname
Italian-language surnames ...