Yumilka Daysi Ruíz Luaces

Olympic champion in Atlanta, 1996 and in Sydney 2000, bronze in Athens 2004 and fourth place in Beijing 2008; world champion in 1998 and fifth in 2002. Fifteen years in Cuba's national team, of which she was the last captain. Individually she achieved distinctions for high performance, mainly in attacking and serving. She is currently a member of the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and collaborates with the Cuban Volleyball Federation. She retired in 2008 at the age of 30.

From an early age she was involved in sports, practicing some of them until she entered the Sports Initiation School (EIDE) of Camagüey in Volleyball, due to the qualities she showed; among them, great jumping ability.

Already in 1989 she impressed the specialists, standing out in the different editions of the National School Games, in which she participated. She progressed rapidly, and without being of the required age, already in 1991, after the Pan American Sports Games, she moved to Havana, as a member of the national youth team.

Yumilka with a height of 1.79 meters had a jumping power of 3.28 meters.

The first major test came in 1996, at only 18 years old, when she was part of the Cuban volleyball team, which had the supreme objective of retaining the Olympic crown achieved four years earlier in Barcelona, Spain.

Before that, she participated in the Grand Prix, a worldwide event that brings together the main powers of women's volleyball. The competition took place in several Asian cities, and there the girl from Camagüey began to stand out for powerful attacks.

Although she did not act as a regular player, she was an important substitute piece in the triumphs of the well-called Spectacular Brown Girls of the Caribbean at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. The Caribbean team won in the qualifying round against considerable rivals. They defeated China and Brazil 3 sets to one, and swept Holland. In the final semifinal stage they defeated the United States in an emotional match that extended to five sets, and for the gold medal, Cuba won in four sets against the Unified Team.

Another important victory came in 1998. For the first time she participated in an ecumenical event. Japan hosted the World Championship and as in the Atlanta Olympic Games, the best teams in the world attended. Along with other established players such as Mireya Luis, Regla Torres, Lily Izquierdo and Marlenis Costa, Yumilka also stood out for her powerful spikes and great jumping ability. The Cuban team defeated the United States, Italy and Bulgaria in the first round. In the quarterfinals, they defeated South Korea, China and Croatia in just three sets. To advance to the final, they beat the always difficult Brazil 3-1, and for the gold medal they repeated their victory over China in three sets.

Another culminating moment came the following year with the World Cup, a qualifying event with 12 teams and a round-robin competition system. The Cuban team, led by Yumilka, won undefeated over other squads of the highest level such as China, Brazil, the United States and Russia. The joy was double, as not only did they impose the best volleyball in the world, but they also secured a ticket to the next Olympic Games to be held the following year in Sydney, Australia. However, months earlier, Cuba could not retain the title at Pan American events, finishing with a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, behind Brazil; they did not have the best performance in the Grand Prix and did not even qualify for the final.

It seemed that it was the end for the dream team, but the year 2000 arrived, and she remained a regular member of the Cuban formation. They triumphed and recovered the crown in the Grand Prix, defeating Russia in the final, after beating China in the semifinals, in both cases 3 sets to one. The historic feat was achieved in the last quarter of 2000, during the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The stellar Cuban player knew that a second gold in competition under the five rings was feasible, which would also be the third for the team of the Brown Girls, consecutively. They had prepared for it and were in excellent form.

The competition began and the Caribbean team defeated Germany 3-0 in the first match and in the next one they fell closely against Russia 2-3. There was no reason to be alarmed, Yumilka and her teammates recovered from the setback and defeated South Korea, Italy and Peru in subsequent days. In the quarterfinal matchup, to enter the top four, Cuba disposed of Croatia 3-0.

The great achievement was about to materialize, but they still had to overcome two more obstacles. The semifinal rival was the also powerful Brazilian team. In a dramatic match, the Spectacular Brown Girls of the Caribbean defeated the South Americans once again in a major event in five hard-fought sets. Up to that point, Yumilka had been a key piece in the Cuban squad, but her great prominence came in the final against another powerhouse, Russia; with powerful and accurate spikes from any angle of the court she was the inspiring spark of the team that won once more, forcing the tie-break or sudden death (fifth set), being considered one of the best players of the major competition.

Between 2001 and 2003 a generational change occurred in the Cuban women's volleyball team. Many of the Spectacular Brown Girls of the Caribbean retired and new promising players entered. Yumilka became in fact the captain and main figure. The head coach and technical director, Antonio Perdomo, had her as the best trump card in his strategy with a system where he used two setters. At the 2002 Argentina World Championship, the renovated Cuban squad did not advance beyond the quarterfinals after falling to the United States. Finally, they finished fifth by defeating South Korea 3-2, but Yumilka took home the award for the tournament's leading scorer.

At the 2003 NORCECA (North American, Central American and Caribbean) Tournament, a qualifier for the Athens Olympic Games the following year, the young 25-year-old Cuban volleyball player was justly nominated as the most valuable player with attacks from both front and back positions.

In 2004, although Cuba finished fourth, losing in the semifinals to Italy 1-3 and for third place to the United States 0-3, the captain took home the trophy for best attacker.

At the Athens Olympic Games, the third Olympic medal arrived, although this time it was not gold. The highly renovated Cuban squad began with a defeat against Germany 2-3. Then came the reaction and they succeeded in defeating Russia 3-2, China 3-2, Dominican Republic 3-0, before suffering their second setback, this time against the United States 0-3. With three wins and two losses they qualified for the quarterfinals and defeated Italy 3-2. It seemed that the feat would materialize once more, but in the semifinals they fell to China 2-3. For the bronze medal, they defeated Brazil 3-1.

Other laurels came for the stellar Cuban volleyball player. She was selected as the best attacker at the 2005 Pan American Cup and one of the most outstanding in the 2007 edition. That year she took the gold medal at the Pan American Sports Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the team spectacularly defeated their archrivals, the South American giant, in five thrilling sets. Brazil's noted technical director, José Roberto Guimaraes, acknowledged that Yumilka's spikes were more similar to men's volleyball than women's volleyball.

The last experience at summer events came the following year in Beijing, China. The Cuban team managed to be among the top four, almost achieving a fourth medal in these competitions, but it was cut short, losing to China 1-3 for the bronze medal. That last experience affected her greatly, because she had great aspirations and could not fulfill them. Thus she decided to retire from active sports and dedicate herself to other endeavors always linked to volleyball.

In 2012 she played in the Russian league for Uralochka-NTMK Ekaterinburg and participated in the European Champions League.

After retirement
She is currently a member of the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and collaborates with the Cuban Volleyball Federation. When asked what she recommended to young people starting out in sports, she answered modestly:

"Be disciplined, enjoy everything you do; whenever you can practice sports, it is a very nice way to meet people, develop in life, and also study a lot and always remember that a smile is worth much more than any money in the world."[1]