Wilfredo León

Wilfredo León Venero (born 31 July 1993) is a Cuban–Polish 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).

Wilfredo León
Personal information
Full nameWilfredo León Venero
NicknameLeo
Nationality Cuban
Polish
Born (1993-07-31) 31 July 1993
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Height2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight96 kg (212 lb)
Spike380 cm (150 in)
Block346 cm (136 in)
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Current team Sir Safety Perugia
Number9
Career
YearsTeams
2005–2010 Capitalinos
2010–2013 Orientales de Santiago
2014–2018 Zenit Kazan
2015 Al Rayyan
2016 Al Rayyan
2018– Sir Safety Perugia
National team
2007–2012 Cuba
2019– Poland
Honours
Men's volleyball
Representing  Cuba
FIVB World Championship
2010 Italy
FIVB World Grand Champions Cup
2009 Japan
FIVB World League
2012 Sofia
Pan American Games
2011 Guadalajara
NORCECA Championship
2009 Puerto Rico
2011 Puerto Rico
Representing  Poland
FIVB World Cup
2019 Japan
FIVB Nations League
2021 Rimini
CEV European Championship
2019 Belgium/France/Netherlands/Slovenia
2021 Poland/Czechia/Estonia/Finland

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.[1] Wilfredo León is considered one of the best volleyball players worldwide.

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.[2] 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 Venero. Wilfredo León Venero debuted in the Cuban national team on May 24, 2008 in Düsseldorf, aged 14 years and 10 months.[3] 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,[4] losing the possibility of playing for the Cuban national team.[5] 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.[6]

Sporting achievements

Clubs

Individual awards

Record
  • 138 km/h serve speed[7]

References
  1. Poggi, Alessandro (2020-04-18). "Wilfredo Leon exclusive! Cuba forged my character, in Poland I found love, Italy is my new challenge". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2022-04-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "POL M: Leon and Diaz in Rzeszów". World of Volley. 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  3. "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.
  4. 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.
  5. "Cuba Expels Wilfredo Leon". Volleywood. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  6. "Wilfredo Leon z polskim obywatelstwem" [Wilfredo Leon with Polish citizenship] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
  7. "Wilfredo León bate récord de velocidad en el saque: 138 km / h". Cuba Si (in Spanish). 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
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