Regla Bell is inducted into the World Volleyball Hall of Fame

Cuban player Regla Bell, a member of the iconic Morenas del Caribe team, was inducted into the World Volleyball Hall of Fame this Monday, as reported on social media.

The sports journalist Yasel Porto confirmed the news through his Facebook page DPorto Sports LLC, highlighting the merits of the athlete to attain such a high distinction.

"She had more than enough merits to be in the Olympus of high net sports gods: Three-time Olympic champion with the Morenas del Caribe (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000), two-time world champion (Brazil 1994 and Japan 1998), and four-time monarch of the World Cup (1989, 1991, 1995, and 1999), among other titles," she stated in her publication.

As a member of the spectacular Morenas del Caribe team, she belonged to a golden era of that sport on the island, which dominated volleyball during the 90s of the last century, winning three consecutive gold medals at the Olympic Games.

At the beginning of April, the institution, based in the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, published the names of the 23 candidates for this year's induction, which included, in addition to Bell, Cuban coach Gilberto Herrera.

Regla Bell competed in the "women's indoor volleyball" category against Kumi Nakada (Japan), Zhang Rongfang (China), Manuela Benelli (Italy), and Barbara Jelic-Ruzic (Croatia).

The information also includes that, in addition to the Cuban, nine other outstanding volleyball players were honored: beach volleyball players Ana Paula Henkel (Brazil) and Tim Hovland (United States), indoor player Andrea Zorzi (Italy), coaches José Roberto Guimaraes (Brazil) and Hadi Rezaei (Iran, sitting volleyball), referees Juan Ángel Pereyra (Argentina) and Sue Lemaire (United States), and entrepreneur Giuseppe Panini (Italy).

The name of this Cuban woman is added to a scenario where there are also seven others from the island: Regla Torres (2001), Mireya Luis (2004), Magalys Carvajal (2011), Mirka Francia (2019), Taimaris Agüero (2021), Yumilka Ruiz (2023), and the coach Eugenio George (2005).

In total, there are now 176 members from 27 countries, including these new additions, who belong to the select group in the World Hall of Fame," as mentioned by journalist Yasel Porto in his publication.