Leonel Marshall Borges Jr. (born 25 September 1979), more commonly known as Leonel Marshall, is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n 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 Summ ...

player. Marshall is an outside hitter, and is well known for his outstanding

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

. He helped the Cuban men's national volleyball team win the gold medal at the

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. He was the youngest member of the Cuban national team at the

2000 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, where he finished in seventh place.

Club volleyball

Marshall has played for numerous European club teams such as

M. Roma Volley M. Roma Volley is an Italian 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 ...

Pallavolo Piacenza Volley Piacenza was an Italian professional men's volleyball club based in Piacenza, northern Italy. They played in the Italian Volleyball League. The club ceased to exist in 2018 due to financial problems. Although the club reached the Italian ...

, and Fenerbahçe. Currently he is playing for Sieco Service Ortona.

2001 Defection

In 2001, Marshall was one of six players on the Cuban national 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 Ihosvany Hernández, 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".

Personal life

Marshall is the son of retired

n volleyball player Leonel Marshall Sr., who competed in both the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

and

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

Achievements

Honors

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

runner up with

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

CEV Top Teams Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

winner with

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* Italian Championship winner with

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Italian Championship runner up with

* Turkish Championship winner with Fenerbahçe: 2010–11, 2011–12 *Turkish Volleyball Cup winner with Fenerbahçe: 2011-12 *Turkish Volleyball Super Cup winner with Fenerbahçe: 2011-12 *

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed to CEV Challenge Cup. History * # ...

winner with Fenerbahçe: 2013-14

Individual

* World League 2001: "Best service" * Cuban sports 2002: "Talented player award" * CEV Cup 2005–06: "MVP" * Turkey League 2010–11: "MVP" * Turkey League 2010–11: "Best receiver" * Turkey League 2013–14: "Best receiver" * Turkey League 2014–15: "Best receiver"

Notes

References

External links

* *
Volleybox.net profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Leonel Jr. 1979 births Living people Cuban men's volleyball players Fenerbahçe S.K. (men's volleyball) players Sporting CP volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players for Cuba Italian people of Cuban descent Defecting sportspeople from Cuba Italian men's volleyball players Naturalised volleyball players Naturalised citizens of Italy Cuban emigrants to Italy Italian expatriate volleyball players Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Italy Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate volleyball players in China Italian expatriate sportspeople in China Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate volleyball players in Portugal Outside hitters Italian expatriate sportspeople in Libya Expatriate volleyball players in Libya Volleyball players from Havana Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Pan American Games gold medalists in volleyball Pan American Games volleyball players for Cuba Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 20th-century Italian sportsmen