Lázaro Beltrán

From the early 1980s to the early 1990s Lázaro Beltrán was part of the Cuban national volleyball team, playing in multiple international competitions. In 1983 Beltrán won silver at the Pan American Games in Caracas, repeating the result four years later at the Games in Indianapolis. He finally won gold with victory at his home Games in La Habana in 1991 with a 3–0 win over Brazil. He also enjoyed success at the Central American and Caribbean Games, winning gold in both 1986 and 1993. In 1990 he won silver after Cuba finished as the runners-up to Italy in the final of the World Championships. Two years later Beltrán just missed out on a medal at the Olympics when Cuba finished fourth at the Atlanta Games.

After his retirement as a player Beltrán emigrated to the United States in 1993, eventually becoming the coach of the US women’s national team. By 1998 he had moved to Colombia, working as a technical adviser for the Colombian Volleyball Federation. From 1999 to 2002 he coached beach volleyball teams in the League of Bogotá. Beltrán later returned to the United States, which saw work with the California Golden Bears as a volunteer assistant coach in 2011.