From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Larissa França
Personal information
Full name	Larissa França
Nickname	Larissa
Born	April 14, 1982 (1982-04-14) (age 27) Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, ES,  Brazil
Hometown	Fortaleza, Brazil
Height	1.74 metres (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb)
Beach Volleyball information
Current teammate
Teammate Juliana Felisberta

Medal record
Women's Volleyball
Competitor for  Brazil
World Championships
Silver	2005 Berlin	Beach
Silver	2009 Stavanger	Beach
Bronze	2007 Gstaad	Beach
Pan American Games
Gold	2007 Rio de Janeiro	Beach
Bronze	2003 Santo Domingo	Beach

Larissa França (born April 14, 1982 in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim) is a female beach volleyball player from Brazil, who won the bronze medal in the women's beach team competition at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, partnering Ana Richa.

After starting her beach volleyball career in 2001, França began collecting medals in 2003 when she teamed with Richa. While participating in four World Tour events, including a 17th at the 2003 FIVB World Championships, França and Richa also won a Brazilian domestic event and finished third in the team rankings behind 2004 Athens Olympians Adriana Behar/Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly/Sandra Pires.

França and Juliana Felisberta collected a medal in their first-ever international event together in March 2004 at Fortaleza, where they had to play country quota and qualifying matches to gain a berth in the main draw where they defeated Chinese Olympians Tian Jia and Wang Fei for the bronze medal. Their only defeats in the tournament were to Athens Olympic finalists Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh of the United States, and Brazilian rivals Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede.

Larissa played in the 2008 Olympic Games with Ana Paula Connelly, since Juliana injured herself shortly before the games.[1] In the tournament the duo reached the quarterfinals, being defeated by later Olympic champions Walsh/May-Treanor.

Only May-Treanor and Walsh have stood in the way of França and Felisberta's complete domination on the 2005 FIVB World Tour. The couple set a FIVB World Tour record for single-season earnings for both men and women teams with $409,750 in winnings in 2005 as the pair claimed six gold medals and fourteen podium placements in fifteen starts.

França started playing volleyball in 1997, and helped her club to capture a Brazilian title in 2000. She switched to beach volleyball in 2001 and entered the rankings within six months.

References

• Larissa França - Profile at the Beach Volleyball Database

Sporting positions
Preceded by  Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede (BRA)	Women's FIVB Beach World Tour Winner alongside Juliana Felisberta 2005 —	Succeeded by Incumbent