PALAU Laia

Date of Birth: 10 Sep 1979

Age: 41

Gender: Female

Height (m/ft): 1.78/5'10''

Place of birth: BARCELONA

Birth Country:

Spain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Basketball	Women ESP Spain	6

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Saitama Super Arena	Women's Preliminary Round Group A #05 KOR Republic of Korea 69 ESP Spain 73	Finished
	Saitama Super Arena	Women's Preliminary Round Group A #19 ESP Spain 85 SRB Serbia 70	Finished
	Saitama Super Arena	Women's Preliminary Round Group A #29 CAN Canada 66 ESP Spain 76	Finished
	Saitama Super Arena	Women's Quarterfinal #44 ESP Spain 64 FRA France 67	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Olympic Games

Rank	Event	Year	Location
2	Women	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA
5	Women	2008	Beijing, CHN
6	Women	2004	Athens, GRE

Rank	Event	Year	Location
2	Women	2014	Turkey
3	Women	2018	Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ESP
3	Women	2010	Czech Republic
5	Women	2002	People's Republic of China
8	Women	2006	Brazil

European Championship

Rank	Event	Year	Location
1	Women	2019
1	Women	2017	Czech Republic
7	Women	2021

Occupation:

Social Work Studies

Languages spoken:

Catalan, Spanish

Uni Girona CB [Spain] since 2018/19

Eric Suris Sola [club], ESP; Lucas Mondelo [national], ESP

Position style:

Point guard (seleccionfemenina.feb.es, 09 Feb 2020)

2002 for Spain Against Canada, Friendly Match in Vilagarcia de Arousa, Spain (seleccionfemenina.feb.es, 09 Feb 2020)

National league:

Liga Femenina [ESP] (ligadia.feb.es, 08 Mar 2020)

She began playing basketball at age 10 with the AE Les Cors club in Spain. (feb.es, 12 Aug 2006)

She became involved in the sport through family and classmates. (feb.es, 12 Aug 2006)

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (elpais.com, 26 Mar 2020)

US basketball player Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, Spanish basketball players Juan Antonio San Epifanio, Tomas Jofresa and Rafael Jofresa. (feb.es, 12 Aug 2006)

Philosophy:

"Resistance is my motto. It's my way of living." (seleccionfemenina.feb.es, 09 Feb 2020)

In 2019 she was named Best Female National Player by the Spanish Basketball Federation. (marca.com, 12 Jul 2019)

She was named to the EuroLeague All-Star team in 2016. (gigantes.com, 12 Apr 2016)

She received the Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit from the Spanish government in 2015. (marca.com, 19 Nov 2015)

She was named Most Valuable Player [MVP] of the 2010 Spanish Cup [Queen's Cup] final. (encancha.com, 10 Jan 2010)

General Interest

General
RETIREMENT THOUGHTS
She says that the older she grows, the more she enjoys playing. She had said she would retire from international competition after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but has continued to play for Spain as well as clubs in the Czech Republic, France, Australia and Spain. The 2020 Games in Tokyo will be her fourth Olympic appearance. "The older I get, the more I value what I do, and the more aware I am of what's happening. I don't think I'm 40 years old. Being in the Olympic Games isn't to raise my numbers, but because it's clear to me that they are a unique life experience, comparable to travelling around the world. It's something very special that I value a lot and if I'm well I don't want to miss it. Nobody has told me to retire. I don't know. Mentally I'm fine, I'm having fun. Of course I want to do other things, but I tell myself I can do them later. And so here I am, season after season. If I hadn't said I was retiring nobody would be talking about it." (elpais.com, 19 Jun 2017; elpais.com, 09 Jul 2019; elpais.com, 26 Mar 2020; seleccionfemenina.feb.es, 09 Feb 2020; feb.es, 26 Jun 2019; magazinedigital.com, 06 Oct 2019)

NO WNBA REGRETS
She says she does not regret the fact she has never played in the WNBA, and that she turned down the opportunity to join a team in the league. "When I went to Australia [in 2017] I had the option to sign for the Los Angeles Sparks, who were the defending champions, but in the end it didn't work out. Of course I would love to pass balls to [Brittney] Griner, I would enjoy competing and training with superstars, but that happened to me in the years I was at Ros Casares Valencia. It was already an All-Star team. Rather than be nobody in the WNBA, I preferred to be somebody with Spain, every year competing to win things. I am very happy with how I have lived and the way I have done it. I'm at peace. I would not change anything in my career." (elnortedecastilla.es, 27 Apr 2020)

Milestones

In 2016 she became the first player to make 1000 assists in the EuroLeague Women. (basketfem.com, 04 Nov 2016; fiba.basketball, 08 Nov 2016)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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