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

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 Sum ...

player. He was a member of the Cuba national team from 2007 to 2012, and is a current member of the Poland national team and Sir Safety Perugia. A silver medallist at the 2010 World Championship, and a two–time NORCECA Champion (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

). Considered by many as one of a kind, he led Cuba to the silver medal at the 2010 World Championship held in Italy, alongside

Yoandy Leal Yoandy Leal Hidalgo (born 31 August 1988) is a volleyball player who plays as a wing-spiker for Italian club Gas Sales Piacenza. Born in Cuba, he is a former member of the Cuba men's national team (2007–2010) and currently represents Braz ...

and Robertlandy Simon. He is considered one of the leaders of the "Generation of Miracle" of Cuban volleyball and by many experts. Wilfredo León is considered one of the best volleyball players worldwide.

Personal life

Wilfredo León Venero was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

on July 31, 1993. He is the son of Wilfredo León Hechavarría and Alina Venero Boza (former

volleyball player This is a list of top international volleyball players. A * Foluke Akinradewo * Carolina Albuquerque * Todor Aleksiev * Ana Ida Alvares * Thiago Soares Alves * Dante Amaral * Andrea Anastasi * Matt Anderson * Stéphane Antiga * Halina As ...

). He studied at Escuela Nacional del Voleibol Cubano. León Venero lived in Poland for a while with his Polish girlfriend. 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 Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, aged 14 years and 10 months. 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

to play in a club outside of his homeland, losing the possibility of playing for the Cuban national team. He joined Russian club Zenit Kazan in 2014, where he won multiple

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

, national leagues and cups. He also played part-time with Qatar club

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled as ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipality in the state of Qatar. Its primary settlement is the city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and largely surrounds Metropolitan Doha and funct ...

in 2015 and 2016. In September 2018, León joined Italian team

SIR Safety Perugia Sir Safety Umbria Volley is a professional Italian volleyball club based in Perugia. It plays in the highest level of the Italian Volleyball League. In the Italian Volleyball League, the team is known as Sir Safety Susa Perugia, while in the inter ...

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

Honours

Clubs

2014/2015 – with Zenit Kazan ** Gold medal europe

2015/2016 – with Zenit Kazan ** Gold medal europe

2016/2017 – with Zenit Kazan ** Gold medal europe

2017/2018 – with Zenit Kazan * FIVB Club World Championship ** Gold medal world centered-2

Poland 2017 – with Zenit Kazan ** Gold medal world centered-2

Betim 2022 – with Sir Safety Perugia * National championships ** 2008/2009 Gold medal with cup

Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos ** 2009/2010 Gold medal with cup

Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos ** 2010/2011 Gold medal with cup

Cuban Championship, with Orientales de Santiago ** 2014/2015 Simple gold cup

Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2014/2015 Gold medal with cup

Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan ** 2015/2016 Simple gold cup

Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2015/2016 Simple gold cup

Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2015/2016 Gold medal with cup

Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan ** 2016/2017 Simple gold cup

Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2016/2017 Simple gold cup

Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2016/2017 Gold medal with cup

Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan ** 2017/2018 Simple gold cup

Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2017/2018 Simple gold cup

Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan ** 2017/2018 Gold medal with cup

Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan ** 2018/2019 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Perugia ** 2019/2020 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia ** 2020/2021 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia ** 2021/2022 Simple gold cup

Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Perugia ** 2022/2023 Simple gold cup

Italian SuperCup The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

, with Sir Safety Perugia

Individual awards

* 2009:

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wom ...

– Best Server * 2009: NORCECA Championship – Best Spiker * 2009: NORCECA Championship – Most Valuable Player * 2011:

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

– Most Valuable Player * 2011: NORCECA Championship – Best Spiker * 2011: NORCECA Championship – Best Scorer * 2015:

– Best Outside Spiker * 2015:

– Most Valuable Player * 2015: FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker * 2016:

– Best Outside Spiker * 2016:

– Most Valuable Player * 2016: FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker * 2017:

– Best Outside Spiker * 2017: FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker * 2018:

– Best Outside Spiker * 2019: CEV European Championship – Best Outside Spiker * 2022: FIVB Club World Championship – Best Outside Spiker

Record

* 138 km/h serve speed

References

External links

*
Player profile
at ''LegaVolley.it'' * *
Player profile
at ''Volleybox.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Wilfredo 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Santiago de Cuba Naturalized citizens of Poland Cuban men's volleyball players Polish men's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players of Poland Volleyball players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in volleyball Pan American Games silver medalists for Cuba Youth Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Expatriate volleyball players in Russia Expatriate volleyball players in Qatar Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate volleyball players in Italy VC Zenit Kazan players Outside hitters