Cecilia Tait
Cecilia Tait
Personal information
Full nameCecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta
NicknameLa Zurda del Oro ("The Golden Lefty")
NationalityPeruvian
Born (1962-05-02) 2 May 1962 (age 61)[1]
Lima, Peru[1]
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Volleyball information
PositionOpposite
Number7
National team
1978–1988 Peru
Honours
Women’s volleyball
Representing  Peru
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul Team
World Championship
Silver medal – second place 1982 Peru
Bronze medal – third place 1986 Czechoslovakia Team
Goodwill Games
Silver medal – second place 1986 Moscow
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 1979 San Juan Team
Silver medal – second place 1987 Indianapolis Team
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Caracas Team
CSV South American Championship
Gold medal – first place 1979 Rosario
Gold medal – first place 1983 São Paulo
Gold medal – first place 1985 Caracas
Gold medal – first place 1987 Punta del Este
Silver medal – second place 1981 Santo André

Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta (born 2 May 1962),[2] more commonly known as Cecilia Tait, is a Peruvian politician and retired volleyball player.

Sports career

Nicknamed "La Zurda del Oro" ("The Golden Lefty"), Tait participated in three Summer Olympics with the Peru national team, finishing sixth in 1980, fourth in 1984, and winning a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[3][4] She was a member of the Peruvian team that won second place in the World Championship in 1982, and third place at the World Championship in 1986.[1] She won a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, a bronze medal at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, and a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis.[1]

In 2005, Tait was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.[5]

Political career

In 1998, Tait entered politics, becoming elected municipal councillor in Villa María del Triunfo, representing the Fujimorist party Vamos Vecino of President Alberto Fujimori. Tait was elected Congresswoman in 2000, representing Perú Posible. She was the first Afro-Peruvian elected to Peru's Congress.[6] The resignation of President Alberto Fujimori led to new elections the following year in which she was reelected for the period 2001–2006. Tait sponsored several bills approved by the Congress that expanded sports programs for both the country's most talented athletes and poor school children as well.[2] She failed to attain reelection in 2006, but she was re-elected to Congress in 2011 and left office in 2016 after she failed to attain re-election under the Peruvians for Change party.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Cecilia Tait". Olympedia.org. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Cecilia Tait Vilacorta". Congreso de la República del Peru. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  3. ^ "1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea – Volleyball" Archived 31 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine – databaseOlympics (Retrieved on 5 February 2008)
  4. ^ "Cecilia Tait". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Cecilia Tait". International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Breaking the Color Barrier". Sun Sentinel. 6 April 2000. Retrieved 14 October 2023. (subscription required)
  7. ^ "El día que Cecilia Tait contó que le ofrecieron US$ 500 000 para pasarse al fujimorismo". Elpopular.pe (in Spanish). 25 May 2021. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

External links

Peru squads
Members of the Volleyball Hall of Fame
Congress of the Republic of Peru (2011–2016)
Categories