Jineiry Martínez

Personal life

Martínez is 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) tall 68 kilograms (150 lb), born on December 3, 1997, in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional. Her parents are Agripina Martínez, who also served as Dominican Republic youth and junior squads team manager,^[1] and Juan Doñe (deceased 2008).^[2] Her siblings are Brayelin who also plays for the Dominican Republic national volleyball teams and Brayan, who plays professional basketball with Titanes del Distrito Nacional.^[3] She is the cousin of basketball player Jack Michael Martínez and niece of the former national team basketball player and politician Vice-Minister of Sports Soterio Ramírez.^[1]^[4] She confessed that she never liked basketball, but felt in love with volleyball since childhood.^[5] She finds support in her sister Brayelin, who was her inspiration to play volleyball.^[5]

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Career

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Perspective

2012-2013

Martinez played the 2012 High Performance Championships international junior division winning the silver medal when her team lost to the USA Junior team in the final match,^[6]^[7] The Dominican Republic Youth National team moved to Tijuana, conquering the 2012 Youth NORCECA Championship silver medal.^[8] She won the gold medal at the 2012 Junior NORCECA Championship, qualifying for the 2013 Junior World Championship.^[9]

Martinez played in Guatemala where she won with her U-18 squad the 2013 Youth Pan-American Cup bronze medal match 3–1 to Argentina^[10] after losing 2–3 to Puerto Rico due to lack of concentration.^[11] During the Junior Pan-American Cup held in La Habana, Cuba, Martínez settled the silver medal when her junior team lost 1–3 to Mexico.^[12] She then played the FIVB U18 World Championship and ranked eight with her national team.^[13] and shortly afterwards played the FIVB U20 World Championship in June, also ranking eight with her national team.^[14] She won the silver medal in the 2013 FIVB U23 World Championship winning the silver medal after being defeated by China in the gold medal match.^[15]

2014

In March, Martinez joined the Dominican club Playeras from the Boca Chica municipality, joining her sister Brayelin^[16] and winning the local tournament after defeating the San Lorenzo de Los Mina club in the final series.^[17] They previously easyly defeated Villa Duarte in the semifinals.^[18] She later played the NORCECA Junior Championship helping her team to win the bronze medal^[19] and later joined the under 23 National Team that won the U23 Pan-American Cup^[20] and earning the Best Middle Blocker individual award^[21] tied with the Peruvian Andrea Urrutia. ^[22] After the gold medal, she was among the athletes included in the Dominican Government program that support the new values by the Minister of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation.^[23]

2015

Martinez debuted with the Dominican Republic national senior team in Montreux, Switzerland during the Montreux Volley Masters having a team leading 14 points in the classification match for fifth place, including nine blocks.^[3]^[24] She then played the Junior Pan-American Cup in home soil, winning the gold medal and the qualification for the 2015 FIVB U23 World Championship^[25] and was awarded the second Best Middle Blocker of the tournament.^[26]

Martinez was chosen to play with the Dominican club Mirador as a wildcard^[27] in the FIVB Club World Championship^[28] but the team fell 1–3 to Voléro Zürich^[29] and 0–3 to Rexona Ades Rio^[30] to end their participation in the fifth place.^[31] She then played the NORCECA Champions Cup, taking home the gold medal and the qualification for the 2015 FIVB World Cup^[32] She then played the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, winning the bronze medal.^[33] She took part in the FIVB U23 World Championship finishing with her team the first round undefeated^[34] before losing 2–3 to Brazil in the semifinals,^[35] she confessed that the team felt sorry about a match they would have won.^[36] She ended up winning the bronze medal after coming from behind 3–2 to Japan.^[37]

Back with her senior team in the World Cup, and after posting a 5–6 record,^[38] they finished in the seventh place from twelve teams.^[39]

In September, Martínez signed with the French club Rocheville Le Cannet,^[40] then traveled to Puerto Rico to take part in the 2015 U20 World Championship with her junior team who advanced to the semifinals without losing one game^[41] as they later won 3–2 over Italy in the semifinals.^[42] They then beat Brazil 3–2 to win the gold medal.^[43] After the game, Martínez credited the teamwork as the key element for they win.^[44]

Martínez senior team lost 1–3 to the United States the NORCECA Championship, ending their participation with the silver medal.^[45] Later, she was enrolled in October by the Japan Anti-Doping Agency^[24] to be part of the Play True 2020 Torch Relay project,^[46] where she was among many athletes aimed to leave real heritage in sport for the world and the future.^[47]

2017-2023

With her national team, Martínez won the 2017 Bolivarian Games gold medal.^[48] She played with her home country at the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, taking the gold medal^[49] and being named Most Valuable Player and Best Blocker.^[50]