Thaísa Menezes


Thaísa Daher de Menezes or simply known as Thaísa Menezes or Thaísa, is a professional volleyball player from Brazil. She won back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. She has won numerous Best Spiker and Best Blocker Awards and is often singled out as one of the greatest Brazilian players of all time.

Biography

Taisa was born in the Campo Grande district, located in the western part of Rio de Janeiro. Her father is a serviceman Domingos di Menezis and her mother Monica Daher is a descendant of immigrants from Lebanon. Until the age of 13, Taisa was engaged in swimming, but then, following the example of her brother, Tiago switched to volleyball.
A year later, she was accepted into the youth team of the Tizhuk club, where Julio Cugna, one of the best mentors for working with young athletes, became her coach. In 2002, Taisa was invited to the Minas team - one of the strongest in Brazil, with which she won her first club level medal that same season, becoming the silver medalist of the Brazilian championship. In the same 2002, Thais made her debut in two teams of her country at once - youth and junior, becoming the champion of two championships of South America with them. A year later, the volleyball player became the world champion both among youth teams and among juniors.

Career

Menezes was part of the Brazilian team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Menezes won the silver medal with Sollys Osasco at the 2010 FIVB World Club Championship. She also earned the Best Spiker award.
At the 2011 Pan-American Cup, Menezes was given the Best Blocker award, and also won the gold medal with her national team.
Menezes was part of the national team who won the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix, Menezes won the silver medal with her national team and the individual award of Best Blocker.
Menezes was part of the national team which won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, UK.
Playing with Sollys Nestlé Osasco, Menezes won the gold medal and the Best Spiker award in the 2012 FIVB Club World Championship held in Doha, Qatar.
Menezes claimed the silver medal in the 2014 FIVB Club World Championship, playing with Molico Osasco, when her team lost 0–3 to the Russian Dinamo Kazan the championship match. She was named among the championship Best Team as Best Middle Blocker.
Menezes played with her national team, winning the bronze at the 2014 World Championship when her team defeated Italy 3–2 in the bronze medal match.

Personal

Menezes is of partial Lebanese origin. She is often cited in social media as one of the sexiest female volleyball athletes. She was previously married to Guilherme Pallesi then later she had relationship with Rafael Mineiro a Brazilian professional basketball player.

Clubs

Individual