Osmany Juantorena facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Osmany Juantorena
Personal information
Full name	Osmany Juantorena Portuondo
Nationality	Cuban Italian
Born	(1985-08-12) 12 August 1985 (age 40) Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Height	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Spike	370 cm (146 in)
Block	340 cm (134 in)
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Current club	Valsa Group Modena
Number	5
Career
Years Teams 1997–2004 Orientales de Santiago 2004–2006 Ural Ufa 2009–2010 Itas Diatec Trentino 2010 → Al Arabi Ad-Dauha (loan) 2010–2013 Itas Diatec Trentino 2013–2015 Halkbank Ankara 2015–2022 Cucine Lube Civitanova 2022–2023 Shanghai Golden Age 2023 Ziraat Bankasi 2023–2024 Valsa Group Modena 2024– Vero Volley Monza
National team
2003–2006  Cuba (76) 2015–2021  Italy
Honours Men's volleyball Representing  Cuba World League Bronze 2005 Belgrade Pan American Games Silver 2003 San Domingo Team Representing  Italy Olympic Games Silver 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team World Cup Silver 2015 Japan European Championship Bronze 2015 Bulgaria/Italy
Last updated: 21 October 2022

Osmany Juantorena Portuondo is a famous professional volleyball player. He was born in Cuba on August 12, 1985. He played for the Cuban national team from 2003 to 2006. Later, he became an Italian citizen and joined the Italian national team.

Osmany is known for being a very strong player. He won a bronze medal at the 2005 World League with Cuba. With Italy, he earned a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He has also won many important club championships. These include the CEV Champions League and the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship. He holds the record for winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at the FIVB Club World Championship four times!

About Osmany's Life

Osmany Juantorena was born in Santiago de Cuba. His uncle is Alberto Juantorena, a famous Cuban runner and politician. Osmany is married to Glenda, and they have two daughters. Their first daughter, Victoria, was born on May 3, 2013. Their second daughter, Angelica, arrived on September 23, 2018.

Osmany is a big fan of the Inter football team. In 2019, he even started his own line of shoes!

Osmany's Volleyball Journey

Starting His Club Career

Osmany began playing volleyball at a young age. He started his junior career when he was 12 years old. He played for the Orientales de Santiago team in Cuba. After playing in Cuba for several years, he moved to Russia. His first professional club there was Ural Ufa.

However, in November 2006, he faced a temporary ban from playing. This meant he could not play for two years. After his ban ended, he wanted to join the Italian club Itas Diatec Trentino. But the Cuban authorities made it difficult for him to move. So, he couldn't play for a third year until 2009.

Success with Trentino Volley

When Osmany finally joined Trentino Volley, he quickly became very successful. He helped his team win the CEV Champions League twice, in 2009/10 and 2010/11. He also won four gold medals at the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship. These wins happened in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

With Trentino, he also won the Italian Championship in 2010/11. He helped them win the Italian Cup three times, in 2010, 2012, and 2013. In May 2010, he played for a short time in Qatar. He returned to Trentino in September of that year. Around this time, he also became an Italian citizen.

Playing for Halkbank Ankara

In 2013, Osmany moved to Halkbank Ankara in Turkey. He helped this team win the Turkish SuperCup. They also became the Turkish champions in 2013/14. He won another SuperCup with them in 2014.

Time with Cucine Lube Civitanova

In April 2015, Osmany announced he would join Cucine Lube Civitanova. With this team, he continued to win many titles. They won the CEV Champions League in 2018/19. They also won the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship in 2019.

He helped Cucine Lube Civitanova win the Italian Championship four times. These wins were in 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21, and 2021/22. They also won the Italian Cup three times, in 2016/17, 2019/20, and 2020/21.

Playing for His Country

Juantorena (blue #5) playing for Italy at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games final against Brazil.

Osmany first played on the international stage for Cuba from 2003 to 2006. He won a bronze medal at the 2005 FIVB Volleyball World League with them.

In 2015, Osmany joined the Italian national team. In the same year, he helped Italy win a bronze medal at the Men's European Volleyball Championship. They also won a silver medal at the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup. His strong attacking skills greatly helped Italy. In 2016, he played in his first Olympic Games. The team won a silver medal there, which was a huge achievement!

Osmany's Major Achievements

Club Successes

• Itas Diatec Trentino
  • CEV Champions League:
    • Winner: 2009/10, 2010/2011
  • FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship:
    • Winner: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
  • Italian Championship:
    • Winner: 2010/11
  • Italian Cup Serie A:
    • Winner: 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13

• Halkbank Ankara
  • Turkish Championship:
    • Winner: 2013/14
  • Turkish Cup:
    • Winner: 2014/15
  • Turkish SuperCup:
    • Winner: 2013, 2014

• Cucine Lube Civitanova
  • CEV Champions League:
    • Winner: 2018/19
  • FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship:
    • Winner: 2019
  • Italian Championship:
    • Winner: 2016/17, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22
  • Italian Cup:
    • Winner: 2016/17, 2019/20, 2020/21

National Team Successes

• With Cuba
  • Pan American Games:
    • Silver medal: 2003
  • FIVB World League:
    • Bronze medal: 2005

• With Italy
  • Olympic Games:
    • Silver medal: 2016
  • FIVB World Cup:
    • Description: Silver medal with cup.
      Title: Silver medal with cup
      Credit: Own work by uploader on the basis of: Silver medal blank.svg create by Maix on licence CC-BY-SA and Med 2.png create by Aoineko on licence CC-BY-SA.
      Author: Michał460
      Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
      License: CC BY-SA 3.0
      License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
      Attribution Required?: Yes Silver medal: 2015
  • European Championship:
    • Bronze medal: 2015

Individual Awards

Osmany Juantorena has won many individual awards for his amazing skills:

• Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards:
  • FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017 (a record!)
  • CEV Champions League: 2010, 2011, 2019
  • Italian Cup: 2012, 2014, 2020
  • Emir of Qatar Cup: 2012, 2015
  • Turkish Men's Volleyball League: 2014
• He was also recognized as the Best Server in the Lega Pallavolo Serie A in 2011.
• He won Best Spiker awards at the FIVB Club World Championship in 2010 and 2011.

See also

In Spanish: Osmany Juantorena Portuondo para niños