Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta (born 5 March 1962), more commonly known as Cecilia Tait, is a Peruvian politician and retired volleyball player. She was a key player in the rise of the Peruvian women's national volleyball team in the 1980s.

Sports career

Nicknamed "La Zurda de Oro" ("The Golden Lefty"), Tait participated in three Summer Olympics with the Peru national team, finishing sixth in 1980, fourth in 1984, and winning a silver medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, where she was the team captain."1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea – Volleyball"
– ''databaseOlympics'' (Retrieved on 5 February 2008) She was a member of the Peruvian team that won the silver medal at the 1982 FIVB World Championship in Peru, and the bronze medal at the 1986 FIVB World Championship in Czechoslovakia. She won a silver medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

in Caguas, a bronze medal at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games, officially known as the IX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Caracas 1983, were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to inclu ...

in Caracas, and a silver medal at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

in Indianapolis. In 2005, Tait was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Political career

In 1998, Tait entered politics, becoming elected municipal councillor in

Villa María del Triunfo Villa María del Triunfo is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is located in the Cono Sur area of the city of Lima. It was officially established as a district on December 28, 1961. The current mayor (''alcalde'') of Villa María del Tr ...

, representing the

Fujimorist Fujimorism (, , Hepburn: ) is the policies and the political ideology of former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori as well as the personality cult built around him, his policies and his family, especially Keiko Fujimori. The ideology is defined ...

party Vamos Vecino of President

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

. Tait was elected

Congresswoman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

in 2000, representing

Perú Posible Possible Peru () was a Peruvian political party. It was founded in 1994 by Alejandro Toledo with the original name of Possible Country (). History Possible Peru has its roots in an earlier political party, Possible Country, which was founded ...

. She was the first Afro-Peruvian elected to Peru's Congress. The resignation of President

led to new elections the following year in which she was reelected for the period 2001–2006. Tait sponsored several bills approved by the Congress that expanded sports programs for both the country's most talented athletes and poor school children as well. She failed to attain reelection in 2006, but she was re-elected to Congress in 2011 and left office in 2016 after she failed to attain re-election under the

Peruvians for Change Peruvians for Change (, PPK) was a centre-right party in Peru. Founded and officially registered in October 2014, the party was described as conservative and liberal. Its leader was Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, President of Peru from 2016 until his ...

party.

References

External links