Larissa França

portrait
Larissa França

2012 at the Grand Slam in Moscow
birthday	April 14, 1982
place of birth	Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil
size	1.74 m
Partner	2001–2003 Ana Richa 2004–2012 Juliana Felisberta da Silva 2014–2017 Talita Antunes da Rocha
successes
2003 - Bronze Pan American Games 2005 - Vice World Champion 2005 - World Tour Champion 2006 - World Tour Champion 2007 - Third Place in 2007 - Winner Pan American Games 2007 - World Tour Champion 2008 - Olympic Fifth 2009 - Vice World Champion 2009 - World Tour Champion 2010 - World Tour Champion 2011 - World Champion 2011 - World Tour Champion 2011 - Winner Pan American Games 2012 - Olympic Bronze 2012 - World Tour Champion 2016 - Olympic fourth 2017 - World Cup third 2017 - World Tour Champion
(As of July 26, 2018)

Larissa França (born April 14, 1982 in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim ) is a Brazilian beach volleyball player . She became world champion with Juliana Felisberta da Silva in 2011 and won the Olympic bronze medal in 2012. She also became World Tour Champion eight times .

Career

Larissa started playing indoor volleyball in 1997 . With her club Tuna Luso Brasileira, she was Brazilian champion in 2000. A year later she switched to beach volleyball. At the Vitória Open 2002 she played her first tournament on the FIVB World Tour with Leninha . A herniated disc put her career at risk this year. In 2003 she played with Ana Richa at the Rhodos Open and the Grand Slam in Berlin . Larissa and Ana Richa achieved their greatest mutual success when they won the bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo . At the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro , they reached the first knockout round in third place, in which they were defeated by the US duo Jordan / Davis .

In 2004 Larissa formed a new duo with Juliana Felisberta da Silva . They finished their first joint open tournament in Fortaleza in third place; after that they finished fifth twice. After an early exit at the Grand Slam in Berlin and a seventh place in Stavanger , they achieved their first tournament victory on the World Tour at the Mallorca Open in the final against the German Lahme / Müsch . At the other FIVB tournaments of the year they were third or fifth. Of their first four open tournaments in the 2005 season, they won three and finished second once. At the World Cup in Berlin they reached the final without losing a set, which they lost to the Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor . In the further course of the season they only missed the final at the Espinho Open (third place) and the Grand Slam in Klagenfurt . They won the Open tournaments in Saint Petersburg , Montreal and Acapulco . At the Mexican tournament they also managed their first victory against their long-term opponents from the USA. Overall, they set a new record with 14 podiums in 15 tournaments and prize money of more than $ 400,000; they were named World Tour Champion and Team of the Year by the FIVB . They also dominated the national tour in Brazil, where they prevailed against Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede .

At the start of the 2006 season, Larissa / Juliana won the Modena Open. In the next two tournaments they were each third. Then they won six of nine tournaments ( Stavanger , Marseille , Saint Petersburg, Paris , Porto Santo , Vitória) and were only defeated three times in the final. They finished fourth in Acapulco. With this track record, they again received the awards as FIVB World Tour Champion and Team of the Year and Larissa was - as in the following years until 2012 - the best setter of the tour. They started the 2007 season with fourth place in Sentosa and third in Seoul . They won the next two open tournaments in Warsaw and Espinho and reached the final at the Grand Slam in Berlin. At the World Cup in Gstaad they made it to the semi-finals with just one lost set. There they were subject to the Chinese women Tian Jia and Wang Jie . They won the game for third place with an 18:16 in the tiebreaker against the second Chinese duo Xue Chen and Zhang Xi . On the World Tour, they then won in Kristiansand , Åland and Saint Petersburg and came second in Klagenfurt and Fortaleza . This was the third time in a row that they became World Tour Champion. They also won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Larissa in the 2008 Olympic quarter-finals against Kerri Walsh

In 2008 they continued their successful streak with tournament victories in Adelaide and Osaka . They were also in the finals of Shanghai and were at least fifth in almost all other tournaments; only at the Grand Slam in Paris they retired early because Juliana tore a cruciate ligament . Therefore, the duo could not compete together at the Olympic Games in Beijing . Larissa played there with Ana Paula ; Second in the group, Larissa and Ana Paula reached the quarter-finals, where they met Walsh / May-Treanor and were eliminated. At the end of the year Larissa won the Guarujá Open with Vivian Cunha . In 2009 Larissa / Juliana played together again and won the first two tournaments in Brasília and Osaka. At the World Cup in Stavanger they only gave a set in the semifinals against their national rivals Talita / Antonelli . In the final they then had to admit defeat to the US duo Ross / Kessy . On the World Tour 2009, after the World Championships, they only missed the final in Marseille (17th place) and Kristiansand (third) and celebrated six more tournament victories. With that they became World Tour Champion again.

At the beginning of the World Tour 2010 Larissa / Juliana won the final of the Brasília Open against the German Goller / Ludwig . They lost the final in Shanghai against the world champions Kessy / Ross and in Rome they had to admit defeat to Talita / Antonelli in the quarter-finals. They won the next tournament in Seoul and came third in Moscow. The next victorious finals were in Stavanger against Talita / Antonelli, in Gstaad against Goller / Ludwig and in Klagenfurt against their compatriots Cunha and Taiana Lima . Against Xue and Zhang Xi, they celebrated their fourth and fifth tournament victories in a row. The Åland Open had the same duel in the final, but this time the Chinese prevailed. Larissa / Juliana finished the series as World Tour Champion with a fifth place in The Hague. They were also "Team of the Year" and Larissa received awards for best attacker and setter.

with Juliana at the Grand Slam 2011 in Moscow

Larissa / Juliana started the World Tour 2011 with tournament victories in Brasília (against Walsh / May-Treanor) and in Sanya (against Xue / Zhang Xi). The success at home brought them the lead in the historical ranking of the FIVB tournaments. In Shanghai they were eliminated in the quarterfinals against the Austrian sisters Doris and Stefanie Schwaiger . At the Grand Slam in Beijing they lost to the Germans Holtwick / Semmler in the first knockout round and achieved their worst result of the season with 17th place. At the subsequent World Cup in Rome , they made it to the quarter-finals without losing a set and then defeated the Americans Fendrick / Hanson and the Czechs Klapalová / Háječková . In the final there was a duel against Walsh / May-Treanor. With a 16:14 in the tiebreak, Larissa / Juliana became world champions for the first time. After a third place in Stavanger, they won the Grand Slams in Gstaad and Stare Jabłonki and were in the final in Moscow. Then they finished ninth in Klagenfurt and third in Åland. After winning the The Hague Open, they were back as World Tour Champion. Larissa also won her second gold medal at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara . At the first tournaments of the 2012 World Tour they came fourth in Brasília, second in Sanya and third in Shanghai. In Beijing they won their first final of the season. After a third place in Moscow and ninth place in Rome and Gstaad, they also succeeded in Berlin. At the Olympic Games in London they stayed without a set until the semi-finals before losing to Kessy / Ross. With a tiebreak win against Zhang Xi and Xue Chen, they then won the bronze medal. Shortly afterwards they won the Grand Slam in Stare Jabłonki and finished the year again as World Tour Champion and “Team of the Year”. At the end of the year, Larissa announced the end of her career because she wanted to concentrate on the family.

In 2014 Larissa decided to make a comeback and returned to the World Tour in July with her new partner Talita Antunes da Rocha . After two ninth places in The Hague and Long Beach , Larissa / Talita celebrated their first joint victory at an FIVB tournament at the Grand Slam in Klagenfurt. They also won the Grand Slams in Stare Jabłonki and São Paulo and the Paraná Open. They also won various tournaments on the national tour. On the 2015 World Tour, Larissa / Talita won the Grand Slam in Moscow and the Poreč Major. They finished ninth in Saint Petersburg. At the World Cup in the Netherlands , they met Juliana and Antonelli in the round of 16 and were eliminated with a 1: 2 defeat. After the World Cup, apart from the Gstaad Grand Slam, they won all other tournaments in which they compete, including the World Tour Final in Fort Lauderdale . This made them FIVB “Team of the Year” and Larissa was named the best offensive player. The World Tour 2015/16 began Larissa / Talita with three tournaments in her home country. They finished ninth in Maceió and Rio de Janeiro before winning the Vitória Open final against Kerri Walsh and April Ross . The Americans get their revenge in Moscow. At the Hamburg Major there was the duel in the game for third place, which the Brazilians won. At the Grand Slam in Olsztyn, Larissa / Talita lost to the Germans Ludwig / Walkenhorst in the final . After finishing ninth in Poreč, they defeated Walsh / Ross again at Gstaad Major. For the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , they were set as the host's team. In the preliminary round and in the round of 16 against the German Borger / Büthe they stayed without losing a set before they had to fend off an opposing match point in the quarter-finals against the Swiss Heidrich / Zumkehr . They lost the semifinals against Ludwig / Walkenhorst and the game for third place against Walsh / Ross. On the World Tour 2017 , Larissa / Talita had without exception top 5 placements and became World Tour Champion. At the World Championships in Vienna they won the bronze medal.

Private

Larissa married the beach volleyball player Liliane Maestrini in 2013 .

Web links

Commons : Larissa França - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Larissa França in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
Profile at the world association FIVB (English)
Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)
Portrait at Time Petrobras (Portuguese)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Portrait at Time Petrobras ( Memento from October 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)
^ Olympic participation for Juliana passé. beach-volleyball.de, August 7, 2008, accessed on August 15, 2016 .
↑ The End of Juliana & Larissa. Volleywood, December 6, 2012, accessed August 15, 2016 .
↑ Larissa is back. beach-volleyball.de, June 19, 2014, accessed on August 15, 2016 .
↑ Larissa e Lili, do vôlei de praia, se casam em praia de Fortaleza com vestido branco e buquê. Globo Extra, August 5, 2013, accessed August 15, 2016 (Portuguese).

personal data
SURNAME	França, Larissa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Brazilian beach volleyball player
DATE OF BIRTH	April 14, 1982
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cachoeiro de Itapemirim , Brazil

[Petrobras-1] Portrait at Time Petrobras ( Memento from October 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)

[BvDb-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)

[3] Olympic participation for Juliana passé. beach-volleyball.de, August 7, 2008, accessed on August 15, 2016 .

[4] The End of Juliana & Larissa. Volleywood, December 6, 2012, accessed August 15, 2016 .

[5] Larissa is back. beach-volleyball.de, June 19, 2014, accessed on August 15, 2016 .

[6] Larissa e Lili, do vôlei de praia, se casam em praia de Fortaleza com vestido branco e buquê. Globo Extra, August 5, 2013, accessed August 15, 2016 (Portuguese).