Yulimar Rojas
![]() Rojas in 2019 | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Venezuelan |
Born | Barcelona, Venezuela[1] | 21 October 1995
Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Venezuela |
Sport | Athletics |
Event | Triple jump |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal bests | 15.67 m WR (Tokyo, 2021) |
Medal record |
Yulimar Andrea Rojas Rodríguez (also known as Yolimar Rojas; born 21 October 1995) is a Venezuelan athlete. She is an Olympic champion (2020 Tokyo) and silver medalist (2016 Rio de Janeiro), a two-time World Champion (2017 London and 2019 Doha) and two-time World Indoor Championship (2016 Portland and 2018 Birmingham) in Triple jump. Her personal best is 15.67 meters, the outdoor world record and 15.43 meters the indoor world record. [2]On May 22, 2021, she equaled her indoor personal best of 15.43 outdoors in Andújar, Spain. She broke the world record at the Tokyo Olympics 2020
Career
Born in Caracas and brought up in Anzoátegui,[3] she had her first success at the 2011 South American Junior Championships in Athletics, where she won the high jump.[4][5] She was defeated by younger opposition at the South American Youth Championships in 2012, managing only fourth.[6] She performed better in higher-level competitions that year, jumping 1.75 m (5 ft 8+3⁄4 in) to take sixth at the Ibero-American Championships and claiming the bronze medal at the South American Under-23 Championships.[7]
In the 2013 season, she improved her personal best to 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) with a jump in Barquisimeto, which was the South American junior record.[8] Two international silver medals came that year at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships (losing to Daniellys Garay on countback) and the Bolivarian Games, where she was second to Kashani Ríos. She also competed in the long jump at the latter event, placing sixth.[9][10] Improving in her new event, she had a best of 6.23 m (20 ft 5+1⁄4 in) in long jump that year.[8]
Rojas expanded her oeuvre in 2014 and began regularly competing in both horizontal and vertical jump events. Starting with the South American Games in March, she claimed her first senior gold medal in the high jump, holding off Kashani Ríos.[11] An appearance in the horizontal jumps followed at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she came eleventh in the long jump and 17th overall in the triple jump.[8] The Pan American Sports Festival brought her her first gold medal in the long jump, as she defeated Irisdaymi Herrera of Cuba.[12] In recognition, she was chosen to lead the returning delegation back to Venezuela and was given the national flag by Tony Álvarez, the Minister of Youth and Sports.[13] A long jump/triple jump double followed at the 2014 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, which included a championship record of 6.36 m (20 ft 10+1⁄4 in) in the former event.[14] At senior level, she narrowly missed out on medals in both of those disciplines at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, placing fourth twice.[15][16]
Rojas established herself as her country's best ever jumper at the 2015 Venezuelan Championships, setting national records of 6.57 m (21 ft 6+1⁄2 in) and 14.17 m (46 ft 5+3⁄4 in) to win the long and triple jump events.[17] At age nineteen, she won the continental triple jump title at the 2015 South American Championships in Athletics, winning gold on her debut at the competition.[18]
Rojas won the silver medal in the triple jump at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games with a 14.98 m, to be placed behind Colombian Caterine Ibargüen, who took the gold after a jump of 15.17 m, with which she broke her personal record. On 7 August 2017, she won her first World Championship in the open air, winning in an epic duel to Ibargüen, a world champion and the current Olympic champion, becoming the first Venezuelan athlete in history to obtain a gold medal in the championships. In her fifth attempt, Rojas jumped to 14.91 m, only 2 centimeters further than the Colombian, who in her last two jumps was unable to pass this mark, settling for the silver medal and losing the opportunity to win her third consecutive gold medal after those achieved in Moscow 2013 and Beijing 2015.
Personal bests
- High jump – 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) (2014)
- Long jump – 6.88 m (22 ft 6+3⁄4 in) (2021)
- Triple jump – 15.67 m (51 ft 4+3⁄4 in) (2021) WR
International competitions
Personal life
Through her social media,[19] Yulimar Rojas makes no mystery about belonging to the LGBT[20] community and dating a young woman, who refers to herself on her social media as "Rusmely Rojas",[21] though no recognition of couple (union or marriage) exists for same-sex couples in Venezuela.
References
- ^ "YULIMAR ROJAS: "QUIERO DARLE LA MEDALLA OLÍMPICA A VENEZUELA" | Punto Olimpico". puntoolimpico.com.ve (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ "Rojas breaks world indoor triple jump record in Madrid with 15.43m | REPORT | World Athletics".
- ^ Valdez, Magdalena (11 November 2014). Abanderada delegación venezolana para Veracruz (+ Fotos) Archived 21 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. YVKE Radio Mundial. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Brazil dominates South American Junior Championships in Medellin Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (26 September 2011). Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ South American Junior Championships 2011. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ South American Youth Championships 2012. WJAH. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Campeonatos Sul-Americano CAIXA de Atletismo SUB-23. CONSUDATLE. Retrieved on 20 June 2015.
- ^ a b c Yulimar Rojas Archived 21 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ 2013 Bolivarian Games Women's Long Jump[permanent dead link]. Bolivarianso2013. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ 2013 Bolivarian Games Women's High Jump[permanent dead link]. Bolivarianos2013. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (17 March 2014). Davide and Duco delight big crowd on final day of ODESUR Games Archived 20 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Athletics at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival Results Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. AmericasAthletics. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Yulimar Rojas recibió el estandarte nacional Archived 21 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. El Nacional (11 November 2014). Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ 6º Sudamericano de Atletismo Sub 23 – 3 al 5 octubre / Montevideo – 214 – Resultados finales Sudamericano Sub 23. CONSUDATLE. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ 2014 CAC Games Women's Long Jump Archived 14 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Veracruz2014. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ 2014 CAC Games Women's Triple Jump Archived 5 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Veracruz2014. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Barinas (Venezuela), 17–18.4.2015 –National Championships- Archived 11 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. TrackInSun (20 April 2015). Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (15 June 2015). Brazilians dominate South American Championships in Lima Archived 20 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 21 June 2015.
- ^ Many posts on her Instagram Archived 2 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine accounts
- ^ "Venezuela's Trailblazers of Pride". 30 June 2019.
- ^ At least for her Instagram account Archived 2 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine name
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Yulimar Rojas at World Athletics
- Yulimar Rojas at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- Living people
- 1995 births
- People from Anzoátegui
- Sportspeople from Caracas
- Afro-Venezuelan
- Venezuelan female high jumpers
- Venezuelan female triple jumpers
- Venezuelan female long jumpers
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Venezuela
- Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Venezuela
- Olympic silver medalists for Venezuela
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Lesbian sportswomen
- LGBT sportspeople from Venezuela
- LGBT track and field athletes
- World Athletics Championships medalists
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Venezuela
- South American Games gold medalists for Venezuela
- South American Games medalists in athletics
- Competitors at the 2014 South American Games
- World Athletics Championships winners
- World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
- Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games