Wilfredo León

Wilfredo León
Wilfredo León
Personal information
Full name	Wilfredo León Venero
Nickname	Leo
Nationality	Cuban; Polish
Born	July 31, 1993; Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Spike	370 cm (146 in)
Block	346 cm (136 in)
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Current team	Sir Sicoma Conad Perugia
Number	9
Career
2005–2010	Capitalinos
2010–2013	Orientales de Santiago
2014–2018	Zenit Kazan
2015	Al Rayyan
2016	Al Rayyan
2018–	Sir Sicoma Conad Perugia
National team
2007–2012	Cuba
2019–	Poland
Men's volleyball
Representing Cuba
World Championship
NORCECA Championships
Pan American Games
World Grand Champions Cup
World League
Men's volleyball
Representing Poland
World Cup
European Championship

Wilfredo León Venero (born 31 July 1993) is a Cuban-Polish professional volleyball player, a member of Cuba men's national volleyball team in 2007–2012 and current member of Poland men's national volleyball team and Italian club Sir Sicoma Conad Perugia, silver medalist of the World Championship 2010, NORCECA Champion (2009, 2011), Cuban Champion (2009, 2010, 2011), Russian Champion (2015, 2016, 2017). Considered by many as one of a kind he led Cuba to the silver medal at the world championship 2010 in Italy, alongside Yoandi Leal and Robertlandy Simon considered one of the leaders of the "Generation of Miracle" of Cuba volleyball and by many experts, Leon may be one of the best players of all time considering all of the accomplishments he has made while still so young, having won every single title at pro level at the age of 24.

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, Yoandri Díaz and León fled Cuba to play in a club outside of their homeland.[3] They lost the possibility of playing for the Cuba national team.[4]

On July 14, 2015 he received Polish citizenship and expressed his desire to play in the Poland men's national volleyball team.[5]

In September 2018, León joined Italian team SIR Safety Perugia.

On July 24, 2019 he became fully eligible to play for the Poland men's national volleyball team.

Sporting achievements

CEV Champions League

FIVB Club World Championship

National championship

2008/2009 Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos
2009/2010 Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos
2010/2011 Cuban Championship, with Orientales de Santiago
2014/2015 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
2014/2015 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
2015/2016 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
2015/2016 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
2015/2016 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
2016/2017 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
2016/2017 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
2016/2017 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
2017/2018 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
2017/2018 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
2017/2018 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan

National team

2009 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup, with Cuba
2009 NORCECA Championship, with Cuba
2010 FIVB World Championship, with Cuba
2011 NORCECA Championship, with Cuba
2011 Pan American Games, with Cuba
2012 FIVB World League, with Cuba
2019 CEV European Championship, with Poland
2019 FIVB World Cup, with Poland

Individually

2009 FIVB World League – Best Server
2009 NORCECA Championship – Best Spiker
2009 NORCECA Championship – Most Valuable Player
2011 Pan American Games – Most Valuable Player
2011 NORCECA Championship – Best Spiker
2011 NORCECA Championship – Best Scorer
2014 The member of Russian Star Team
2015 CEV Champions League – Best Outside Spiker
2015 CEV Champions League – Most Valuable Player
2015 THe winner of Andrei Kuznetsov Awards
2015 FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker
2016 CEV Champions League – Best Outside Spiker
2016 CEV Champions League – Most Valuable Player
2016 FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker
2017 CEV Champions League – Best Outside Spiker
2017 FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker
2018 CEV Champions League – Best Outside Spiker
2019 CEV European Championship – Best Outside Spiker

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References

"POL M: Leon and Diaz in Rzeszów". World of Volley. 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
"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.
"Wilfredo Leon trafi do Resovii?" [Wilfredo Leon will go to Resovia?] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
"Cuba Expels Wilfredo Leon". Volleywood. 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
"Wilfredo Leon z polskim obywatelstwem" [Wilfredo Leon with Polish citizenship] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2017-12-30.

Awards
Preceded by Gilberto Godoy Filho	Best Server of FIVB World League 2009	Succeeded by Yoandry Leal
Preceded by Victor Rivera	Best Spiker of NORCECA Championship 2009 2011	Succeeded by Andy Leonardo
Preceded by Lloy Ball	Most Valuable Player of NORCECA Championship 2009	Succeeded by Keibel Gutiérrez
Preceded by José Miguel Cáceres	Best Scorer of NORCECA Championship 2011	Succeeded by Rolando Cepeda
Preceded by Gilberto Godoy Filho	Most Valuable Player of Pan American Games 2011	Succeeded by Facundo Conte
Preceded by –	Best Outside Spiker of CEV Champions League 2014/2015 ex aequo Facundo Conte 2015/2016 ex aequo Tine Urnaut 2016/2017 ex aequo Ivan Zaytsev 2017/2018 ex aequo Osmany Juantorena	Succeeded by Tine Urnaut Wilfredo León
Preceded by Sergey Tetyukhin	Most Valuable Player of CEV Champions League 2014/2015 2015/2016	Succeeded by Maxim Mikhaylov
Preceded by Sergey Tetyukhin Matey Kaziyski	Best Outside Spiker of FIVB Club World Championship 2015 ex aequo Todor Aleksiev 2016 ex aequo Yoandry Leal 2017 ex aequo Yoandry Leal	Succeeded by Yoandy Leal Wilfredo León

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[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] "Wilfredo Leon trafi do Resovii?" [Wilfredo Leon will go to Resovia?] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2017-12-30.

[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.