Iván Márquez (born October 4, 1981, in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n professional and olympic

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. His position on the field is

middle blocker Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. He currently plays in the Greek Volley League for

PAOK Thessaloniki PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

. He also currently coaches for a league called Miami Volleyball Academy in Miami, Florida

Career

He played for the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

team

Olympiacos SC Olympiacos Men's Volleyball (, ), commonly referred to as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos SFP, is the men's professional volleyball department of the major Greek multi-sport club, Olympiacos SFP, based in Pi ...

, and for the national team of Venezuela. Before going to Olympiacos, Márquez was playing for

Knack Randstad Roeselare Knack Roeselare is a Belgian professional men's volleyball club based in Roeselare. They compete in the Euro Millions Volley League and the CEV Champions League. The club was founded on February 12, 1964. Officially they started in the lowest di ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Márquez is known for his very hard serve and spike through the middle, hence his nickname ''Bomba''. Márquez only started playing volleyball at a late age, as he was denied permission by his country to play

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Márquez is the first son of Iván Márquez Sr. and the only child of Kais Sánchez. He is married to Gabriela Torrealba de Marquez since 28 October 2006 and has two children. He won with his team the gold medal at the

2005 Bolivarian Games The XV Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos'') were a multi-sport event held between 12–21 August 2005 in Armenia, Colombia, Armenia and Pereira, Colombia, Pereira, Colombia. Some events took place in Cartagena, Colombia, Cartagena d ...

. Rebeca Perez is his favorite club player Played the 2006 Fivb World Championship in Japan where his national team occupied the 17th position. After that his biggest desire of going to the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 came true when Venezuela beat in his final qualification game Argentina by 3-1 and accomplish the most expected dream of his career. A year later Marquez moved to the Italian league where he signed for Vibo Valentia Tonno Callipo he has an amazing start so much that the league call him to participate in the All Start Game where his team beat the Italian National Team 3–1. After passing quickly for the French league he returned to Italy where he defends the club of Pineto, but due to injury he has to take an intervention to repair his

quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

tendon. He returned to the court a few months later to assist one more time to the Panamerican Games in Guadalajara, Mexico (2011) and yet come back to play another season in the Argentinian League with the Club Sarmiento Santana Textiles in Resistencia. In 2017, he signed a contract with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

with whom he won the Portuguese Championship. He was signed to PAOK V.C. for the season 2018-2019

Awards

Individuals

* '' 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games "Best server" '' * '' 2011-2012 Argentinian League "Best spiker"''

National Team

, - Gold Medal

Clubs

* 2003 Argentine League – Champion, with Bolívar Signia * 2005 Belgium League – Champion, with Knack Roeselaere * 2005 Belgium Cup – Champion, with Knack Roeselaere * 2006 Belgium League – Champion, with Knack Roeselaere * 2006 Belgium Cup – Champion, with Knack Roeselaere * 2007 Belgium League – Champion, with Knack Roeselaere * 2009 Greek League – Champion, with Olympiakos Piraeus * 2009

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

– Champion, with Olympiakos Piraeus * 2018

Portuguese Volleyball First Division The Portuguese Volleyball First Division ( Portuguese: ''Campeonato Nacional de Voleibol – I Divisão'') is the top men's volleyball league in Portugal. The competition, which is organised by the Portuguese Volleyball Federation, was called Hono ...

- Champion, with Sporting CP

References

External links