‘Best Libero’ Justine Wong-Orantes ‘kept the ball in the air’ for Team USA to win first volleyball gold medal

Meet Justine Wong-Orantes, the Filipino Chinese American athlete who was an integral part of Team USA’s gold medal win in women’s volleyball at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Amazing athlete: Wong-Orantes, 25, played a key role in helping Team USA defeat Brazil and secure the country’s first-ever gold medal in women’s volleyball on Sunday, according to NBC Olympics.

View post on X

She was reportedly running all over the place to help her team set up scores against their opponent during their three sets. Team USA beat Brazil 3-0 (25-21 for the first set, 25-20 for the second set and 24-15 for the final set).
Volleyball World named Wong-Orantes as Best Libero for its 2020 Tokyo Games dream team.

View post on X

A dream come true: Winning a gold medal in volleyball has been a dream for Wong-Orantes ever since she started getting into the sport.

Her Filipino Chinese mother, Winnie Wong, and her Mexican father, Robert Orantes, were volleyball players, the Los Angeles Times reported. Her father also coached the Mizuno Long Beach volleyball club.
Wong-Orantes partnered with Sara Hughes to become one of the top youth beach volleyball pairs, hoping to one day win a gold medal just like American gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Both Wong-Orantes and Hughes competed at the 2011 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Youth World Championships in Croatia, where they finished with a tie in ninth place, according to her Volleyball World profile.

Despite being the only libero for Team USA, Wong-Orantes still handled the matches well, Team USA coach Karch Kiraly told the LA Times.

About Justine Wong-Orantes: Born in Torrance, Calif., Wong-Orantes attended the University of Nebraska and played for the university state team in 2017.

She won the Pan American gold medal and the bronze medal at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix.
She also won the 2019 NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship silver medal.
Wong-Orantes was the youngest player to earn a AAA CBVA rating after winning a AAA beach tournament at the age of 12, her Team USA profile reads.
The gold medalist is currently playing for VC Wiesbaden club.
She graduated from Nebraska in December 2016 and has a degree in child, youth and family studies.

Featured Image via Titans Volleyball | Womens

Share this Article