JUANTORENA Osmany

General
INTERNATIONAL RETIREMENT AND RETURN
In December 2018 he announced his international retirement in order to focus on his club career. In May 2019 he announced his return to international competition with a view to competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "I'm not getting any younger, I almost never had some rest. I was tired of the continuous club and national team alternation. But if I thought about it, I had dreamed of playing at the Olympic Games, so why not again?" (volleyball.it, 28 Mar 2019)

FROM CUBA TO ITALY
Born in Cuba, he represented his country of birth at international level, winning silver at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and bronze at the 2005 World League. He decided to switch his sporting allegiance after the Cuban Volleyball Federation [FCV] requested he gave up his domestic career in Italy. He obtained Italian citizenship in 2010 and made his debut for Italy at the 2015 World Cup in Japan. "I sent a letter to the federation expressing my willingness to play for Cuba, but they asked me to abandon Italy. I couldn't meet their demand, I couldn't abandon my career and all I had achieved." (cibercuba.com, 24 Sep 2015; oncubamagazine.com, 21 Jun 2015)

SANCTION
He was banned for two years between 2006 and 2008 after testing positive for a banned substance. The International Volleyball Federation [FIVB] imposed the ban after he returned positive doping tests at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia. He returned to competition in November 2008 and signed for Italian team Trentino. "It was difficult. After that I no longer wanted to play again but my family had always been very close to me and had given me the best advice. They told me that I was born to play, and that I was young. So I came back and was lucky enough to begin with Trentino, they helped me a lot." (volleyball.it, 28 Mar 2019; deporcuba.com, 16 Jun 2015; repubblica.it, 22 Dec 2012; cubaencuentro.com, 01 Jan 2007; legavolley.it, 22 Jul 2016)