Yumilka Ruiz

Volleyball player Yumilka Ruíz competed at four Olympic Games, from 1996-2008, winning gold medals in 1996 and 2000 and a bronze medal in 2004. Ruíz’s other gold medals include the 1998 World Championship, the 1999 World Cup, the 2007 Pan American Games, and the 2007 NORCECA Championships. She also won silver at the 2003 Pan American Games and the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games.

In league play, Ruíz was with Ciudad Habana from 2000-06 and Camagüey from 2006-08 in Cuba. She played for Reggio Calabria in Italy from 1996-2000 and the Russian club Uralochka-NTMK in 2004-05 and 2012-14. She helped Reggio Calabria finish second at the Italian Championships in 1999 and 2000, and in 2000 won the Italian Cup, the Italian Super Cup, and the CEV Cup. In 2005 she led Uralochka-NTMK to the Russian Super League title.

She was named most valuable player at the 2002 Pan-American Cup, the 2003 NORCECA Championship, and in the 2004/05 Russian Super League. She was named best spiker at the 2004 FIVB World Grand Prix and the 2005 Pan American Cup, and best scorer at the 2002 World Championships.

In 2008 Ruíz was elected as an athlete member of the International Olympic Committee, serving from 2008-16. She was also named to the IOC Sport and Active Society Commission.