Larissa França Maestrini (born April 14, 1982) is a Brazilian

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 ...

player. She is the all-time leader of beach volleyball titles, with 57 FIVB career gold medals, including the 2011 Beach Volleyball World Championships with Juliana Felisberta and the 2015

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour (known between 2003 and 2012 as the FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour for sponsorship reasons) was the worldwide professional beach volleyball tour for both men and women organized by the ' (Fédération ...

with

Talita Antunes Talita Antunes da Rocha (born August 29, 1982) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player, playing as a blocker. She was Fédération Internationale de Volleyball, FIVB rookie of the year in 2005, and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, World Tour Win ...

. She was inducted to the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2023.

Career

With Felisberta, França won two

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

titles (in 2007 and 2011) and the bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Four years prior, França had had to play the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

with Ana Paula Connelly following an injury to Felisberta, finishing in fifth place. She also won the bronze medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, partnering Ana Richa. After a brief two year retirement following the 2012 Olympics, França went back to activity in 2014 in a double with

. The duo went on to win the gold medal at the 2015 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals and earn a spot into the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. The pair participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The pair won their quarterfinal match against the Swiss team of Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr in a nail biting match of three sets (21-23, 27–25, 15-13) in the quarter final played on August 14, 2016. The pair lost in straight sets to Ludwig and Walkenhosrt in the semifinal match. Next they went for bronze. They lost to the American team of

April Ross April Elizabeth Ross (born June 20, 1982) is a former American beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic medalist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Jennifer Kessy, a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Kerr ...

and Kerri Walsh Jennings in 3 sets of (21–17, 17–21, 9–15); they finished 4th.

Personal life

França was born in

Cachoeiro de Itapemirim Cachoeiro de Itapemirim () is a municipality and a major town, located in the south of Espírito Santo, Brazil, on the banks of the Itapemirim River. It is the economic hub of southern Espírito Santo, being the most important producer of marble ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attracti ...

, and moved at a young age to the state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. A sports enthusiast from her youth, she earned a volleyball scholarship in high school and went on to start her professional career at

Tuna Luso Brasileira Tuna Luso Brasileira, commonly referred to as Tuna Luso, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Belém, Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon ...

. She moved to beach volleyball in 2001, following an event held by the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation 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 ...

. In August 2013, França married fellow female player Liliane Maestrini, about one month after they came out about their relationship.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franca, Larissa 1982 births Living people Brazilian women's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players for Brazil Olympic medalists in beach volleyball Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Beach volleyball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Beach volleyball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Beach volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Brazilian lesbian sportswomen LGBTQ volleyball players Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Brazilian people of Catalan descent Sportspeople from Pará Sportspeople from Cachoeiro de Itapemirim Sportspeople from Espírito Santo Federal University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Beach volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists in volleyball Pan American Games bronze medalists in volleyball Beach volleyball defenders FIVB World Tour award winners Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen