Wilfredo León

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Wilfredo León
Zenit Kazan vs Halkbank - CEV Men's Volleyball Champions League (23547482665).jpg
Personal information
Full nameWilfredo León Venero
NicknameLeo
NationalityCuba Cuban
Poland Polish
Born (1993-07-31) 31 July 1993 (age 28)
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Height2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight96 kg (212 lb)
Spike370 cm (146 in)
Block346 cm (136 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Current teamItaly Sir Safety Perugia
Number9
Career
YearsTeams
2005–2010Cuba Capitalinos
2010–2013Cuba Orientales de Santiago
2014–2018Russia Zenit Kazan
2015Qatar Al Rayyan
2016Qatar Al Rayyan
2018–Italy Sir Safety Perugia
National team
2007–2012 Cuba
2019– Poland

Wilfredo León Venero (born 31 July 1993) is a CubanPolish professional volleyball player, member of the Cuba men's national volleyball team in 2007–2012, and a current member of the Poland men's national volleyball team and Italian club Sir Safety Perugia, silver medallist of the 2010 World Championship, NORCECA Champion (2009, 2011), Cuban Champion (2009, 2010, 2011), Russian Champion (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018).

Considered by many as one of a kind he led Cuba to the silver medal at the world championship 2010 in Italy, alongside Yoandy Leal and Robertlandy Simon considered one of the leaders of the "Generation of Miracle" of Cuba volleyball and by many experts.

Personal life[]

Wilfredo León Venero was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba on July 31, 1993. He is the son of Wilfredo León Hechavarría and Alina Venero Boza (former volleyball player). He studied at Escuela Nacional del Voleibol Cubano. León Venero lived in Poland for a while with his Polish girlfriend.[1] On June 24, 2016 he married Małgorzata (born Gronkowska). On May 13, 2017 their daughter Natalia was born.

Career[]

He started to play when he was 7. His first coach was his mother Alina. Wilfredo León Venero debuted in the Cuban national team on May 24, 2008 in Düsseldorf, aged 14 years and 10 months.[2] He won the title of Best Receiver at World League 2009. On July 31, 2009 he won a silver medal in the World U21 Championship 2009 (after losing the final against Brazil). In 2009, the Cuban national team, with Leon, won the title of NORCECA Champion (and three individual awards) and repeated this success in 2011. After losing the final against Brazil, Cuba won a silver medal at the World Championship 2010. He was the youngest captain of the national team (he was 17). In 2012, he won bronze medal of World League - Sofia 2012.

In 2013, León left Cuba to play in a club outside of his homeland,[3] losing the possibility of playing for the Cuban national team.[4] He joined Russian club Zenit Kazan in 2014, where he won multiple CEV Champions League, national leagues and cups. He also played part-time with Qatar club Al Rayyan in 2015 and 2016. In September 2018, León joined Italian team SIR Safety Perugia.

On July 14, 2015 he received Polish citizenship, and five years later he became fully eligible to play for the Polish national volleyball team.[5]

Sporting achievements[]

Clubs[]

Individual awards[]

Record[]

  • 138 km/h serve speed[6]

References[]

  1. ^ "POL M: Leon and Diaz in Rzeszów". World of Volley. 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  2. ^ "Czternastolatek w kadrze Kuby na LŚ!" [Fourteen-year-old in Kuba's team at LŚ!] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  3. ^ Futterman, Matthew (2021-08-02). "How a Cuban Émigré Became a Polish Volleyball God". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  4. ^ "Cuba Expels Wilfredo Leon". Volleywood. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  5. ^ "Wilfredo Leon z polskim obywatelstwem" [Wilfredo Leon with Polish citizenship] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  6. ^ "Wilfredo León bate récord de velocidad en el saque: 138 km / h". Cuba Si (in Spanish). 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-05-30.

External links[]

Awards
Preceded by
Brazil Gilberto Godoy Filho
Best Server of
FIVB World League

2009
Succeeded by
Cuba Yoandry Leal
Preceded by
Puerto Rico Victor Rivera
Best Spiker of
NORCECA Championship

2009
2011
Succeeded by
Guatemala Andy Leonardo
Preceded by
United States Lloy Ball
Most Valuable Player of
NORCECA Championship

2009
Succeeded by
Cuba Keibel Gutiérrez
Preceded by
Dominican Republic José Miguel Cáceres
Best Scorer of
NORCECA Championship

2011
Succeeded by
Cuba Rolando Cepeda
Preceded by
Brazil Gilberto Godoy Filho
Most Valuable Player of
Pan American Games

2011
Succeeded by
Argentina Facundo Conte
Preceded by
Best Outside Spiker of
CEV Champions League

2014/2015
ex aequo Argentina Facundo Conte
2015/2016
ex aequo Slovenia Tine Urnaut
2016/2017
ex aequo Italy Ivan Zaytsev
2017/2018
ex aequo Italy Osmany Juantorena
Succeeded by
Slovenia Tine Urnaut
Cuba Wilfredo León
Preceded by
Russia Sergey Tetyukhin
Most Valuable Player of
CEV Champions League

2014/2015
2015/2016
Succeeded by
Russia Maxim Mikhaylov
Preceded by
Russia Sergey Tetyukhin
Bulgaria Matey Kaziyski
Best Outside Spiker of
FIVB Club World Championship

2015
ex aequo Bulgaria Todor Aleksiev
2016
ex aequo Cuba Yoandry Leal
2017
ex aequo Brazil Yoandry Leal
Succeeded by
Cuba Yoandy Leal
Cuba Wilfredo León
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