{{short description|Cuban volleyball player (born 1979)}} {{for|the retired Cuban volleyball Olympian|Leonel Marshall Sr.}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox volleyball biography | name = Leonel Marshall | image = Leonel Marshall.jpg | imagesize = | fullname = Leonel Marshall Borges Jr. | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|9|25|df=yes}} | birth_place = Havana, Cuba | death_date = | death_place = | height = 1.96 m | weight = 86 kg | spike = 383 cm | block = 343 cm | position = Outside hitter | currentclub = Sieco Service Ortona | currentnumber = 1 (national team)<br>7 (club volleyball) | years = 1998–2000<br>2001–2002<br>2003–2007<br>2007–2008<br>2008–2010<br>2010–2014<br>2014–2015<br>2015–2016<br>2016–2018<br>2018–2019<br>2019–2020<br>2020–2021<br>2022–2024 | clubs = Sarplast Livorno<br>Nazionale Cubana<br>Pallavolo Piacenza<br>M. Roma Volley<br>Pallavolo Piacenza<br>Fenerbahçe Istanbul<br>Arkas Izmir<br>BAIC Group<br>LPR Piacenza<br>Sporting Clube de Portugal<br>Bursa Büyükşehir Belediyespor<br>Asswehly Sports Club<br>Sieco Service Ortona | nationalyears = 1997–2001 | nationalteam = {{vb|CUB}} | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's volleyball}} {{MedalCountry|{{CUB}}}} {{MedalCompetition|World Grand Champions Cup}} {{Medal|Gold|2001 Japan|Team}} {{MedalCompetition|World League}} {{Medal|Silver| 1999 Mar del Plata|}} {{Medal|Competition|Pan American Games}} {{Medal|Gold|1999 Winnipeg|Team}} {{MedalCompetition |NORCECA Championship}} {{Medal|Gold|2001 Barbados|}} | updated = 24 October 2023 }}
'''Leonel Marshall Borges Jr.'''{{family name footnote|lang=Spanish|Marshall|Borges}} (born 25 September 1979), more commonly known as '''Leonel Marshall''', is a Cuban professional volleyball player.<ref name="SR">{{cite web |website=Sports-Reference.com |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/ma/leonel-marshall-2.html |title=Leonel Marshall |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806095753/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/leonel-marshall-2.html |archive-date=2019-08-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Marshall is an outside hitter, and is well known for his outstanding vertical jump.<ref name="jump">{{Cite web |url=https://olympic.ca/2017/09/06/getting-vertical-the-highest-jump-in-sport-2/ |website=Olympic.ca |title=Getting vertical: The highest jumps in sport |last=Bourque |first=Kelly |date=September 6, 2017 |access-date=August 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817133317/https://olympic.ca/2017/09/06/getting-vertical-the-highest-jump-in-sport-2/ |archive-date=August 17, 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> He helped the Cuban men's national volleyball team win the gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg.<ref name="Olympedia-son">{{Cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/94485 |title=Leonel Marshall |website=Olympedia |access-date=6 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725111906/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/94485 |archive-date=25 July 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the youngest member of the Cuban national team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where he finished in seventh place.<ref name="SR" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.whatcuba.com/cuba-volleyball-leonel-marshall.html |title=Cuba Volleyball |website=Whatcuba.com |access-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817134159/https://www.whatcuba.com/cuba-volleyball-leonel-marshall.html |archive-date=17 August 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Club volleyball==
Marshall has played for numerous European club teams such as M. Roma Volley, Pallavolo Piacenza, and Fenerbahçe.<ref name="VBox" /> Currently he is playing for Sieco Service Ortona.<ref name="VBox">{{Cite web |url=https://volleybox.net/leonel-marshall-p305/clubs |website=Volleybox.net |title=Experience |access-date=2 October 2024 }}</ref>
==2001 Defection== In 2001, Marshall was one of six players on the Cuban national team to leave a hotel they stayed at in Flanders for a tournament, and from there rode a train to Italy for political asylum.<ref name="VW" /> The other players were Ihosvany Hernández, Jorge Luis Hernández, Ángel Dennis, Yasser Romero, and Ramón Gato.<ref name="VW" /> Once they were granted asylum in Italy, this group was referred to as "the defectors".<ref name="VW">{{Cite web |url=https://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-related-news/volleyball-news-north-america/cuban-defectors-a-decade-later/ |website=Volleywood.net |title=The Defectors a Decade Later |date=30 December 2011 |access-date=6 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308220145/http://www.volleywood.net/volleyball-related-news/volleyball-news-north-america/cuban-defectors-a-decade-later |archive-date=8 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Personal life== Marshall is the son of retired Cuban volleyball player Leonel Marshall Sr., who competed in both the 1976 Summer Olympics and 1980 Summer Olympics.<ref name="Olympedia-father">{{Cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/52222 |website=Olympedia |title=Leonel Marshall |access-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817133541/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/52222 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Achievements==
===Honors=== *CEV Cup runner up with Pallavolo Piacenza: 2004, 2007 *CEV Top Teams Cup winner with Pallavolo Piacenza: 2006 *Italian Championship winner with Pallavolo Piacenza: 2009 *Italian Championship runner up with Pallavolo Piacenza: 2004, 2007 *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 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== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Olympedia|94485|Leonel Marshall}} * {{Olympics.com profile|leonel-marshall|Leonel Marshall}} * [https://volleybox.net/leonel-marshall-p305 Volleybox.net profile]
{{Cuba men volleyball team 2000 Olympics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Leonel Jr.}} Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Cuban men's volleyball players Category:Fenerbahçe S.K. (men's volleyball) players Category:Sporting CP volleyball players Category:Volleyball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic volleyball players for Cuba Category:Italian people of Cuban descent Category:Defecting sportspeople from Cuba Category:Italian men's volleyball players Category:Naturalised volleyball players Category:Naturalised citizens of Italy Category:Cuban emigrants to Italy Category:Italian expatriate volleyball players Category:Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Italy Category:Cuban expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Category:Expatriate volleyball players in China Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in China Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Category:Expatriate volleyball players in Portugal Category:Outside hitters Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Libya Category:Expatriate volleyball players in Libya Category:Volleyball players from Havana Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Category:Pan American Games gold medalists in volleyball Category:Pan American Games volleyball players for Cuba Category:Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Category:20th-century Italian sportsmen