Foluke Atinuke Gunderson (née Akinradewo; born October 5, 1987) is an 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 who plays as a middle blocker for Japanese club Hisamitsu Springs. Born in Canada, she represents the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

internationally. Gunderson won gold with the national team at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix, 2014 World Championship, the Rimini Volleyball Nations League, and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Her 2020 Olympics win allowed her to complete the trifecta of winning an Olympic bronze, silver, and gold medal.

High school and personal life

Gunderson was born in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. Her siblings are Folu and Foluso Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and the

, and used to audition for commercials when she was little. Gunderson attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, where she was a three-year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track & field teams. She was an All-American selection in 2003 and 2004 and an all-state selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005. In addition to volleyball, she was an all-state selection in basketball and was a four-time Florida State Champion in track. She made her US international debut before the start of her freshman year at Stanford. She helped the US win the 2004 NORCECA Continental Women's Junior Championship, and then was the starting middle blocker on the U.S. Women's Junior National Team at the 2005 FIVB World Championships.

Stanford

Gunderson majored in human biology at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. As a freshman in 2005, she was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Pacific Region Freshman of the Year. She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American and led the squad in hitting percentage (.397), a mark which ranked third in the Pac-10, 13th in the nation and third for a single-season in school history. In 2006, she was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to an NCAA Division I runner-up finish to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. For the year, she was named a First Team All-American by the AVCA. In 2007, Gunderson was named the AVCA National Player of the Year and was the Honda Sports Award winner for volleyball. She broke the Pac-10 and Stanford single season hitting percentage record by more than 50 points, as she averaged .499 percentage, a mark that was first in the nation and second since rally-scoring was introduced in 2001. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to their second consecutive Division I national runner-up finish to Penn State. As a senior in 2008, Gunderson repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and got her third consecutive Honda Award nomination. She repeated as a First Team All-American and led Stanford to their third consecutive NCAA title match. She finished her collegiate career with the best career hitting efficiency (.446) of any NCAA Division I player.

Club volleyball

Gunderson joined Toyota Auto Body Queenseis in October 2010. In the 2010–11 V.Premier League, Gunderson was named the winner of the Spike award. Gunderson won the silver medal in the 2012 FIVB Club World Championship, playing with the Azerbaijani club Rabita Baku. In 2013 Gunderson's club, Rabita Baku, won the Azerbaijan Super League Championship winning their sixth title in a row. She won the league's Best Spiker award.

International career

2012

Gunderson competed for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics. She earned a silver medal for her efforts.

2014

Gunderson was part of the USA national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when the team defeated China 3–1 in the final match. It was the USA's first-ever gold in any of the three major volleyball tournaments.

2016

Gunderson was part of the US bronze medal-winning team at the 2016 Olympics. She started all eight games. She was named in the 2016 Olympic Games Dream Team at middle blocker.

2021

In May 2021, she was named to the 18-player roster for the FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament. that will be played May 25-June 24 in Rimini, Italy. It is the only major international competition before the Tokyo Olympics in July. On June 7, 2021, US National Team head coach Karch Kiraly announced she would be part of the 12-player Olympic roster for 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 ...

in Tokyo.

Awards

Individual

* '' 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Most Valuable Player"'' * '' 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Blocker"'' * ''2010–2011 Japanese V.League "Spike Award"'' * '' 2012-13 Azerbaijan Super League "Best Spiker"'' * '' 2016 Olympic Games "Best Middle Blocker"'' * '' 2016 FIVB Club World Championship "Best Middle Blocker"'' * '' 2017-2018 Japanese V.League Division 1 "Spike Award"'' * '' 2018-2019 Japanese V.League "Best Middle Blocker"'' * '' 2018-2019 Japanese V.League "Most Valuable Player"''

College

*Four-time AVCA All-American (2005, second team; 2006–08, first team) *Three-time ''Volleyball Magazine'' first team All-American (2006–08) *Four-time All-Pac-10 team (2005–08) *Two-time NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (2006, 2007) *2008 – ''Volleyball Magazine'' National co-Player of the Year *2008 – Honda Award nominee *2008 – Pac-10 Player of the Year *2007 – AVCA National Player of the Year *2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Year *2007 – Honda Award winner for volleyball *2007 – NCAA Stanford Regional MVP *2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Week (Oct. 1) *2006 – Honda Award nominee *2005 – AVCA Pacific Region Freshman of the Year *2005 – Pac-10 Freshman of the Year

National team

* 2010

Pan-American Volleyball Cup * 2010 Gold medal with cup

FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was an annual women's volleyball competition created in 1993. The men's version of the competition was called FIVB Volleyball World League, World League. This event should not be confused with the other intern ...

* 2011

Pan-American Volleyball Cup * 2011 Gold medal with cup

Women's NORCECA Volleyball Continental Championship * 2011 Gold medal with cup

* 2011

FIVB Women's World Cup * 2012 Gold medal with cup

* 2012

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

* 2013

FIVB World Grand Champions Cup * 2013 Gold medal with cup

Women's NORCECA Volleyball Continental Championship * 2014 Gold medal with cup

FIVB World Championship * 2015 Gold medal with cup

* 2015

FIVB Women's World Cup * 2015 Gold medal with cup

Women's NORCECA Volleyball Continental Championship * 2016 Gold medal with cup

Women's NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament * 2016 Silver medal with cup

* 2016

* 2017

FIVB World Grand Champions Cup * 2018 Gold medal with cup

FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League * 2019 Gold medal with cup