Ana Paula Rodrigues Connelly Henkel (born 13 February 1972, in Lavras, Minas Gerais), more commonly known as Ana Paula, is a retired female volleyball player and journalist from Brazil who represented her native country at four Summer Olympics: in volleyball in 1992 and 1996, and in beach volleyball in 2004 and 2008. With Brazil women's national volleyball team, she won three World Grand Prix editions and got medals in various tournaments, including the 1996 Olympics in the United States and the 1994 FIVB World Championship in Japan.^[1] On the beach, she won the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in 2003 (alongside Sandra Pires) and 2008 (with Shelda Bede).

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Ana Paula Henkel
Ana Paula Henkel (left) in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Ana Paula Rodrigues Connelly Henkel
Nationality	Brazil and United States
Born	(1972-02-13) 13 February 1972 (age 52) Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb)
Spike	309 cm (122 in)
Block	284 cm (112 in)
Volleyball information
Position	Middle blocker
Number	5
National team
1992–1998  Brazil
Honours Women's volleyball Representing  Brazil Summer Olympics 1996 Atlanta Team World Championship 1994 Brazil Team World Grand Prix 1994 Shanghai 1996 Shanghai 1998 Hong Kong 1995 Shanghai CSV South American Championship 1995 Porto Alegre 1993 Cusco

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After retiring from volleyball in 2010, Paula moved to Los Angeles, California, where she majored in architecture at UCLA and is now studying to get a master's degree in political science. Noted for her conservative views, she had a column in newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo and joined news station Jovem Pan.^[2]

Paula has been married three times, first to basketballer Jeffty Connelly from 1994 to 1998, and then to volleyball coach Marcus Miranda, with whom she had a son. Since 2010, she has been married to attorney and retired beach volleyballer Carl Henkel.^[3][4] She was considering a fifth Olympic appearance in 2012, but retired as she was developing panic disorder and started resenting being too absent for her son.^[5]