Adriana Brandão Behar (born 14 February 1969) is a Brazilian 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 of Jewish descent. She was inducted into the

Volleyball Hall of Fame The International Volleyball Hall of Fame (IVHF) was founded to honor extraordinary players, coaches, officials, and leaders who have made significant contributions to the game of volleyball. The Hall of Fame is located in Holyoke, Massachusetts ...

in 2010.

Sport journey

Behar began her sports career as a figure skater at the age of 10 at Flamengo. At the age of 16, she migrated to

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 ...

, where she played professionally in Italy for three seasons. In 1992, back in Brazil, Adriana decided to dedicate herself to beach volleyball, starting a new phase in her sports career. In 1995, after the suggestion of coach Letícia Pessoa, Adriana formed a duo with Shelda Bedê. This partnership would last 12 seasons and would become one of the most successful in the history of

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each 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 o ...

. Together, they won more than a thousand victories and 114 titles. Adriana and Shelda won world championships in 1999 and 2001 and maintained their lead in the world rankings in 2000, 2001 and 2004. At the

2000 Sydney 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 ...

, the pair reached the final after winning four matches, winning the silver medal. They repeated the feat at the Athens

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, where they again took silver, becoming the first female pair to win more than one

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

Recognition

Throughout her career, Adriana was honored several times on the Brazilian Circuit, being recognized as best blocker (1998–2000) and best striker (1999) In 2006, Adriana and Shelda were included in the Guinness Book of Records as the players with the most titles won on the World Circuit, totaling six. She was indicted to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. She was inducted into the

in 2010. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2017. She is first woman to assume the position of CEO of the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation in 2021.

Post-retirement

After her retirement in 2008, Adriana Behar specialized in Business Management and took on administrative positions. She engaged in the

Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. (, ) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King of Portugal, on ...

Sports Ambassadors project, participating in lectures, fairs and social actions. In 2012, she became Brazil's sole representative on the Women's Commission of the International Olympic Committee and is currently president of the Women in Sport Commission of the

Brazilian Olympic Committee The Brazilian Olympic Committee (; COB) is the highest authority in Sports in Brazil, Brazilian sport and the governing body of Brazilian Olympic Games, Olympic sport. It was officially founded on 8 June 1914, but World War I caused its official ...

. In 2017, she was listed among the

BBC's 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Behar, Adriana 1969 births Living people Brazilian women's volleyball players Brazilian women's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players for Brazil Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Jewish volleyball players Brazilian Sephardi Jews Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Volleyball players from Rio de Janeiro (city) Federal University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists in volleyball Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in beach volleyball Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian Jews 21st-century Brazilian Jews International Volleyball Hall of Fame inductees

Sport journey

Recognition

Post-retirement

See also

References

External links