Ihosvany Hernández Rivera (born ), more commonly known as Ihosvany Hernández, is a Cuban former

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 and three-time Olympian. Hernández played with the Cuban men's national volleyball team at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona, the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta, and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. He was the captain of the Cuban team at the Sydney Olympics. Standing at 2.06 meters (6'9") in height, he was a middle blocker.

World Cups and World Championships

Playing for the Cuban national team, Hernández won a gold medal at the 1989 FIVB World Cup in Japan, a silver medal at the 1990 FIVB World Championship in Brazil, a silver medal at the 1991 FIVB World Cup in Japan, and a bronze medal at the 1998 FIVB World Championship in Japan.

Pan American Games

Hernández also helped the Cuban national team win gold medals at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games, officially known as the XI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Havana 1991 (), were held in Havana, Cuba from 2 to 18 August 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organi ...

in Havana and

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games () or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

in Winnipeg, and the bronze medal at the

1995 Pan American Games The 1995 Pan American Games, officially known as the XII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mar del Plata 1995, were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from 12 to 26 March 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games' first retur ...

in Mar del Plata.

2001 Defection

In 2001, Hernández was one of six players on the Cuban men's national volleyball team to leave a hotel they stayed at in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

for a tournament, and from there rode a train to Italy for political asylum. The other players were Leonel Marshall, Jorge Luis Hernández,

Ángel Dennis Ángel Dennis (born 13 June 1977) is a Cuban-born Italian volleyball player. Dennis played with the Cuba men's national volleyball team, Cuban men's national volleyball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he finished in seventh pla ...

, Yasser Romero, and Ramón Gato. Once they were granted asylum in Italy, this group was referred to as "the defectors".

Clubs

* Ciudad de Habana (1989–1990)

References

External links