In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is León and the second or maternal family name is Venero.
Wilfredo León Venero (born 31 July 1993) is a professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for the Polish PlusLiga club, Bogdanka LUK Lublin. Born in Cuba, he represents Poland at the international level. He was a member of his country of birth's national team from 2007 to 2012.
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 and Robertlandy Simon. He is considered one of the leaders of the "Generation of Miracle" of Cuban volleyball by many experts.
Personal life
León 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 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
León started to play when he was seven. His first coach was his mother, Alina. León debuted in the Cuban national team on May 24, 2008, in Düsseldorf, 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 (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 2010 World Championship. He was the youngest captain of the national team (he was 17). In 2012, he won the bronze medal at the World League.
In 2013, León left Cuba 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 titles, 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, León received Polish citizenship, and five years later he became fully eligible to play for the Polish national volleyball team.
On 10 August 2024, he won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Honours
Club
- CEV Champions League
2014–15 – with Zenit Kazan- 2015–16 – with Zenit Kazan
- 2016–17 – with Zenit Kazan
- 2017–18 – with Zenit Kazan
- FIVB Club World Championship
Poland 2017 – with Zenit Kazan- Betim 2022 – with Sir Safety Perugia
- Bangalore 2023 – with Sir Safety Perugia
- Domestic
- 2008–09
Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos - 2009–10 Cuban Championship, with Capitalinos
- 2010–11 Cuban Championship, with Orientales de Santiago
- 2014–15
Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan - 2014–15 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
- 2015–16 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2015–16 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2015–16 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
- 2016–17 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2016–17 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2016–17 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
- 2017–18 Russian SuperCup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2017–18 Russian Cup, with Zenit Kazan
- 2017–18 Russian Championship, with Zenit Kazan
- 2018–19 Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2019–20 Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2020–21 Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2021–22 Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2022–23 Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2023–24 Italian SuperCup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2023–24 Italian Cup, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2023–24 Italian Championship, with Sir Safety Perugia
- 2008–09
Individual awards
- 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
- 2015: CEV Champions League – Best outside spiker
- 2015: CEV Champions League – Most valuable player
- 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
- 2022: FIVB Club World Championship – Best outside spiker
- 2023: CEV European Championship – Most valuable player
State awards
Record
- 138 km/h serve speed
References
- ^ "LEON VENERO Wilfredo". Paris 2024 Olympics.
- "Hit transferowy stał się faktem! Wilfredo Leon zagra w Lublinie!". Weszło (in Polish). 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- Poggi, Alessandro (18 April 2020). "Wilfredo Leon exclusive! Cuba forged my character, in Poland I found love, Italy is my new challenge". Olympics.com. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
- "POL M: Leon and Diaz in Rzeszów". World of Volley. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- "Czternastolatek w kadrze Kuby na LŚ!" [Fourteen-year-old in Kuba's team at LŚ!] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- Futterman, Matthew (2 August 2021). "How a Cuban Émigré Became a Polish Volleyball God". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- "Cuba Expels Wilfredo Leon". Volleywood. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- "Wilfredo Leon z polskim obywatelstwem" [Wilfredo Leon with Polish citizenship] (in Polish). Wirtualna Polska Media. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- "Poland claim Olympic silver in men's volleyball". polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- "Uroczystość wręczenia odznaczeń medalistom oraz trenerom Igrzysk XXXIII Olimpiady Paryż 2024". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- "Wilfredo León bate récord de velocidad en el saque: 138 km / h". Cuba Si (in Spanish). 21 October 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
External links
- Wilfredo León at the European Volleyball Confederation
- Wilfredo León at Volleybox.net
- Wilfredo León at LegaVolley.it (in Italian)
- Wilfredo León at Olympedia (archive)
- Wilfredo León at Olympics.com
- Wilfredo León at the Polski Komitet Olimpijski (in Polish)
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Gilberto Godoy Filho
|
Best Server of FIVB World League 2009 |
Succeeded by Yoandry Leal
|
Preceded by Osmany Juantorena Yūki Ishikawa
|
Best Outside Spiker of FIVB World Cup 2019 ex aequo Yūki Ishikawa
|
Succeeded byIncumbent |
Preceded by Dmitry Volkov Denys Kaliberda
|
Best Outside Spiker CEV European Championship 2019 ex aequo  Uroš Kovačević
|
Succeeded by Alessandro Michieletto Daniele Lavia
|
| Preceded by– | Best Outside Spiker of CEV Champions League 2014/2015 ex aequo  Facundo Conte2015/2016 ex aequo  Tine Urnaut2016/2017 ex aequo Ivan Zaytsev2017/2018 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 Aleksiev2016 ex aequo Yoandry Leal2017 ex aequo Yoandry Leal
|
Succeeded by Yoandy Leal Wilfredo León
|
| Poland squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
- 1993 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Santiago de Cuba
- Cuban emigrants to Poland
- Naturalized citizens of Poland
- Cuban men's volleyball players
- Polish men's volleyball players
- Olympic volleyball players for Poland
- Olympic silver medalists for Poland
- Olympic medalists in volleyball
- Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Volleyball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Youth Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
- Volleyball players at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
- Pan American Games medalists in volleyball
- Pan American Games silver medalists for Cuba
- Volleyball players at the 2011 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games
- Expatriate volleyball players in Russia
- Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Russia
- Expatriate volleyball players in Qatar
- Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
- Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Italy
- Polish expatriate volleyball players in Italy
- VC Zenit Kazan players
- LKPS Lublin players
- Outside hitters
- 21st-century Polish sportsmen