Yaima Ortiz Charro (born 9 November 1981, 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.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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 and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

who competed in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

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 ...

. She won a bronze medal with the Cuban national team in the 2004 Olympics.

Career

2001

Ortiz made

altitude training Altitude training is the practice by some endurance athletes of training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably over above sea level, though more commonly at intermediate altitudes due to the shortage of suitable high-altitude locations. ...

in March 2001 with the National Team in

Riobamba Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...

, Ecuador in order to be in shape for the upcoming tournaments. She played the

2001 FIVB World Grand Prix The 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix was the ninth women's volleyball tournament of its kind. Teams Preliminary round Ranking First round Group A *Venue: Suphanburi, Thailand Group B *Venue: Kowloon, Hong Kong Second round Grou ...

, finishing in fourth place, and later played the 2001 NORCECA Championship in Santo Domingo, winning the silver medal.

2002

Ortiz was called to the Cerro Pelado Training Center as one of the national team rookies at the age of 21. She later played the 2002 Cuban National League with the club Occidentales that became league champion with Ortiz's help, and only lost one match in the whole season. After the Cuban league, she joined the national team under the guidance of coaches Eugenio George, Luis Felipe Calderón and Jorge Garbey, set to a four-country warmup tour before the Pan American Cup. After beating the Dominican Republic 3-1, she won the 2002 Pan-American Cup gold medal. Shortly after that, she departed to the 2002 FIVB World Grand Prix in a competition where her national team ranked in seventh place. She was among the Cuban team called for the 2002 FIVB World Championship, in which she mostly played as substitute player. However, her team lost 0-3 to the United States in the quarterfinals and had to settle for playing the fifth to eight places round. After defeating Bulgaria 3-2, they won 3-2 over Korea to reach the tournament's fifth place.

2003

Ortiz was part of the Cuban team that won the 2003 Pan-American Cup bronze medal. She then was called to play 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 ...

where her team won the silver medal when they lost 2-3 to the Dominican Republic in the gold medal match. Ortiz played the 2003 FIVB World Cup where her team qualified by winning the 2003 NORCECA Continental Championship silver medal.

2004

Ortiz was among the core of the national team that was getting ready for the 2004 Summer Olympics. She led all the spikers during the 2004 Pan-American Cup held in Mexico, with a 56.00 percent success, winning the gold medal and the Best Spiker award. She was a member of the Cuban team which won the bronze medal in the Olympic tournament. She played under the guidance of the veteran coach

Nikolay Karpol Nikolay Vasiliyevich Karpol (; born 1 May 1938) is a Russian women's volleyball coach and a longstanding coach of the Soviet Union women's national volleyball team, Soviet national team (then the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics, Common ...

with the Russian club Dinamo Moscow Oblast for the 2004/05 season with fellow Cuban

Marta Sánchez Marta Sánchez López (born 8 May 1966) is a Spanish singer. She has sold more than 10 million albums. Biography Marta was born in Madrid, Spain. Her father, Antonio Sánchez Camporro, was an Asturian opera singer. She began her musical car ...

, where she said she felt like home and became very interested in the country.

2005

Ortiz helped Cuba to win the 2005 Pan-American Cup championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She was chosen to play the

2005 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix The FIVB World Grand Prix 2005 was the thirteenth edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament, which is the female equivalent of the Men's Volleyball World League. The 2005 edition was played by twelve countries from June 24 to July 18, 2 ...

and she ranked fourth in the final standings. Later in August, she played in Santiago, Dominican Republic and she helped Cuba to win their qualification tournament for the 2006 FIVB World Championship. Ortiz helped the Cuban team over the Dominican Republic in the 2005 NORCECA Championship semifinals before they settled for the silver medal when falling to the United States 2-3, failing the championship and the ticket to the FIVB Grand Champions Cup. She played for Uralochka-NTMK for 2005/06.

2006

Ortiz was one of the key players of the Occidentales victory in the 2006 Cuban National Games, when they defeated the Dominican Republic representatives 3-1. She then headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico to participate in the 2006 Pan-American Cup, where they won the silver medal after falling 1-3 to Brazil, and the

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, in ...

. She then played the

2006 FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB World Grand Prix 2006 was the fourteenth edition of the annual women's volleyball tournament, which is the female equivalent of the Men's Volleyball World League. Qualification Asia *The top four Asian teams according to the FIVB World ...

, but she could not play as an attacker because she was injured. In the 2006 World Championship she played as Rosir Calderon's substitute for serve and defense because she was still recovering from knee surgery. She also played as a libero.

2007

She won the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

gold medal with her national team, playing as the team libero. She was still in the libero position for the 2007 NORCECA Championship, because she was still having a recovering knee and her team won the tournament by defeating 3-2 to the United States in the golden medal match. She played as libero for the 2007 FIVB World Cup. In 2007, she played the 2007 FIVB World Cup, ranking with her national team in fourth place. She later played also as libero in the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament, where her team won a berth for the

by winning the event undefeated.

2008

She was included in the 2008 Pan-American Cup squad that ranked 11th from 12 participants and later won the silver medal in the

2008 FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB World Grand Prix 2008 was a women's volleyball tournament in which 12 countries competed from 20 June to 12 July 2008. The finals were held in Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan. Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic and the United States qualifi ...

. She finished fourth with the Cuban team in the 2008 Olympic tournament. Ortiz decided to take a break from the Cuban national team after the Olympics, but when she tried to return to the team she received a two years penalty from the Cuban authorities. After the Olympic disappointment, she dedicated herself to modeling in Italy.

2010

Even when she received offers from Italian volleyball clubs, her agent Alexei Kunyshev recommended the Russian league to her. After the two-year break from volleyball, Ortiz travelled in June 2010 to Russia to the Siberian city of

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

, training during the Omichka Omsk club's vacation time in order to get in shape before August, when the contracts were going to be held. She was introduced to the press as an Omichka club member for the 2010/10 season in an open training session on 19 August 2010. She played the second round of the 2010/11 GM Capital Challenge Cup, with Omichka winning in December the home match to the Azerbaijani club

Lokomotiv Baku Lokomotiv Baku is an Azerbaijani women's volleyball club. History Team Season 2015–2016 ''As of December 2015.'' Honours *Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is ...

, 3-2. However, they lost the away match 0-3 and the golden set, ending their European Cups participation. She led her club with 18 points in the lost 0-3 to Dinamo Moscow, with her first match in Siberian severe weather at under 30 degrees below zero. Because of the weather the club's doctor asked her not to play, and Ortiz was sidelined for the last 2010 match against Dinamo Krasnodar due to

acute respiratory distress syndrome Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin co ...

, but she opted to stay with the team in the warm up zone and cheer during the match.

2011

After Ortiz played nine matches with the Omsk club, averaging 4.31 points per set and ranking seventh in the Russian Superliga, she moved in February to the Azerbaijani club

Igtisadchi Baku Igtisadchi Baku is an Azerbaijani women's volleyball club. History Igtisadchi Baku was founded in the Summer of 2008 and immediately got the right to participate in the Azerbaijan Women's Volleyball Super League, Azerbaijan Super League, quali ...

. She ended the season by winning the Azerbaijan Super League bronze medal. She signed with the Russian club Dinamo Moscow for the 2011/12 season. She expressed that she was honored to play with this club and had many goals, including winning the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tota ...

. However, due to low performance, the club's administration decided to hire Angelina Grün in her place to stay on court along with Eva Yaneva because of the local league restrictions. Ortiz agreed to continue playing in the

2011–12 CEV Champions League The 2011–12 CEV Champions League was the 53rd edition of the highest level European volleyball club competition organised by the European Volleyball Confederation. Participating teams League round 24 teams were drawn to 6 pools of 4 teams eac ...

, and also helped them to win the 2011 Russian Cup.

2012

Ortiz played the CEV Champions League and contributed with her club to win their pool first place in the preliminary round. They reached the CEV Champions League Knockout stage, where they lost 2-3 to the Italian club MC-Carnaghi Villa Cortese in Italy, and 0-3 in Moscow, to end her club's European Championship and her time with the Moscow club. The club tried to help Ortiz to find a new club for the rest of the season. She later signed for the Turkish club

Sarıyer Belediyesi Sarıyer () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea coast to t ...

for the 2012/13 season. The contract was questioned within the

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2 and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer al ...

Municipal Assembly, when a local lawmaker asked for clarification about the Ortiz contract worth US$1.5 million and the Brazilian Olympic player

Raquel Silva Raquel Peluci Xavier Camargo da Silva (born 30 April 1978), more commonly known as Raquel, is a Brazilian former volleyball player who played for the Brazil women's national volleyball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she won a ...

US$1.25 million at the time. He showed in the assembly and published in the municipality website pictures of Ortiz in a bikini. He asked if they had come to Turkey for modelling, and questioned where the funding came from. The club president said that she had signed for US$100,000 just to play volleyball, and that the funding would be contributed by the club sponsors on a monthly basis for 10 months, starting in September 2012. Ortiz won the first International Bosphorus Volleyball Tournament organized for her club as a warm up before the season's start. She started the season as her club's scoring leader, but decreased her performance because she was injured.

2013-2015

She claimed that she really enjoyed playing with Sarıyer, focused on reaching a league's top six ranking to qualify for the European Cups. She said that she looked forward playing with them the next season. However, she announced her retirement after that season, due to suffering a knee injury. She cited family reasons for making a pause in her career in July 2013, but nonetheless, she supported her former teammates in the Sarıyer's opening ceremony of the 2013-2014 season. She unsuccessfully tried a return in October, with Sarıyer releasing the Ukrainian Mariia Voitenko, club's previous signing, to make room for her. Instead, she dedicated herself to modeling again. She tried to return for the 2014/15 season with Sarıyer, signing after having spent one year out, and the medical check was approved, but the Brazilian Ana Paula Lopes Ferreira was transferred in her place when she suffered from injuries to her

knee cartilage In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

. 2022 In 2022 she lounge her own brand . Yo by Yaima Ortiz .

Personal life

Ortiz was born on 9 November 1981 in Havana, Cuba. As of 2007 she was studying

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

in Cuba. She started playing volleyball at the age of eight, and studied in the EIDE Mártires de Barbados school before joining the Centro de Alto Rendimiento Cerro Pelado for advance training. In 2008 she was discovered in

Providencia, Chile Providencia (, Spanish: "providence") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago City. It is bordered by the communes of Santiago to the west, Recoleta to the northwest, Las Condes and Vitacura to the northeast, La Reina to the east, and ...

by the Chilean designer Rubén Campos, while she was visiting her mother. She lost 10 kg, took modelling classes and announced her sport retirement at that time, claiming that she just wanted to model. She spent one and a half years modelling in Italy, and married Massimiliano Gambini. After her second retirement, she established herself in Istanbul and worked as a model. The American

Hyperrealism Hyperreality is a concept in post-structuralism that refers to the process of the evolution of notions of reality, leading to a cultural state of confusion between signs and symbols invented to stand in for reality, and direct perceptions of ...

sculptor and artist

Carole Feuerman Carole A. Feuerman (born 1945) is an American sculptor and author renowned for her Realism (arts), superrealist art. She is recognized as one of the pioneering artists of the superrealism movement in the late 1970s and is best known for her figu ...

made a sculpture of Ortiz named ''Yaima and the Ball'' that debuted in December 2014. During her career Ortiz suffered from a strong tendinitis of the right shoulder and degenerative meniscopathy of the right knee. Dr. Mario Pastorelli helped her recover her career. In December 2016 she married the Turkish

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

designer Rizá Tansu in Cuba, where the Cuban band Orishas recorded their

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

"Sastre de tu amor".

Clubs

* Occidentales (2002) * Ciudad Habana (2003–2004) * Dinamo Moscow Oblast (2004–2005) * Uralochka-NTMK (2005–2006) * Ciudad Habana (2006–2008) * Omička Omsk (2010–2011) *

(2011) * Dinamo Moscow (2011–2012) *

(2012–2013)

Awards

Individuals

* '' 2004 Pan-American Cup "Best Spiker"''

Clubs

* 2002 Cuban National League - Simple cup icon

Champion, with Occidentales * 2010-11 Azerbaijan Super League - Bronze medal, with

* 2011-12 Russian Cup - Simple cup icon

Champion, with Dinamo Moscow * 2011-12 Russian League - Gorm silver cup

Runner-up, with Dinamo Moscow

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Yaima 1981 births Living people Cuban women's volleyball players Cuban female models Olympic volleyball players for Cuba Olympic bronze medalists for Cuba Olympic medalists in volleyball Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for Cuba Volleyball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Sarıyer Belediyesi volleyballers Pan American Games silver medalists in volleyball Pan American Games volleyball players for Cuba Liberos Expatriate volleyball players in Russia Expatriate volleyball players in Azerbaijan Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Russia Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in volleyball Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Cuban expatriate volleyball players Cuban expatriates in Italy Volleyball players from Havana