1. Overview
Yulimar Rojas Rodríguez, also known as Yolimar Rojas, is a Venezuelan athletics athlete specializing in the triple jump. She is widely recognized as the world record holder in the women's triple jump, both outdoors and indoors, earning her the nickname la reina del triple saltoSpanish (the Queen of the Triple Jump). She achieved a world ranking of 1st in the triple jump in 2023. Her extraordinary career includes an Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games and a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Rojas has also secured four World Championship titles and three World Indoor Championship titles. Born and raised in poverty in Venezuela, her journey from humble beginnings to global prominence exemplifies remarkable dedication and perseverance, overcoming significant socioeconomic challenges to achieve unparalleled success in her sport.
2. Early Life and Background
Yulimar Rojas's early life was marked by the challenges of growing up in a deprived area of Venezuela, a background that profoundly shaped her character and athletic drive.
2.1. Childhood and Early Environment
Yulimar Rojas Rodríguez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on October 21, 1995. She was raised in a small, improvised dwelling known as a ranchitoSpanish (shack, literally 'little ranch') in the Altavista area of Pozuelos, Anzoátegui. Her family had moved there so her stepfather could find work in the oil industry. Rojas is one of six siblings, and she has often stated that growing up in a large, impoverished family instilled in her a strong drive to overcome adversities, which proved crucial for her athletic career. The original ranchito where her family lived was later destroyed due to severe weather. Following some of Rojas's early successes in athletics, her family was provided with better housing in 2014, reflecting a small improvement in their living conditions. In 2021, Rojas revealed to RTVE that her childhood ambition was merely to achieve some dignity in life. After she began competing, she promised her mother, Yulecsy Rodríguez, that she would one day buy her a proper house with walls, a promise she diligently worked to fulfill. Early coaches noted that despite her immense talent and perseverance, Rojas's success would have been impossible without leaving Venezuela in 2015, as she would have lacked access to proper nutrition and medical care necessary to maintain her health and athletic performance amidst the country's dire conditions.
2.2. Early Sporting Interests and Challenges
Inspired by the Venezuelan delegation at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Rojas, a naturally tall child, initially aspired to be a volleyball player. However, she faced a significant obstacle: there was no volleyball team located near her home. She also explored basketball, but similarly struggled to find coaches or adequate facilities to pursue the sport. Her stepfather, Pedro Zapata, a former boxer, encouraged her to try athletics instead of volleyball, sensing her athletic potential. She was further encouraged to pursue athletics under coach Jesús "Tuqueque" Velásquez at the Simón Bolívar Sports Complex in Puerto la Cruz. The conditions at the complex were rudimentary; Velásquez recounted that even though the stadium was supposedly government-financed, Rojas and other young athletes often had to physically dig the sandpit where they practiced jumps, beneath a jujube tree. The Simón Bolívar Sports Complex is part of the facilities of the José Antonio Anzoátegui Stadium, and two of Rojas's sisters, Yerilda and Yorgelys Zapata, are also athletes, training in throwing events at the same stadium. Rojas's first athletic event was shot put, which she won, but she chose to explore other disciplines. At the age of 15, she entered her first high jump competition. She credits triple jumper Asnoldo Devonish, who was Venezuela's sole Olympic medalist in athletics before her own achievements, as a significant inspiration in her development.
3. Athletic Career
Yulimar Rojas's athletic career has been marked by a rapid ascent from regional competitions to global dominance, characterized by a continuous drive to break records and redefine the limits of the triple jump.
3.1. Career Beginnings (2011-2015)
Rojas showed immense promise early in her career. She received an invitation to international competitions, but her estranged father initially withheld permission for her to leave the country. This changed when a championship was held in neighboring Colombia, the 2011 South American Junior Championships. At just 15 years old, this event marked Rojas's first high jump competition, where she impressively won and set a new national youth record, ranking 11th globally that year. This victory was pivotal; her coach, Velásquez, challenged the Venezuelan Athletics Federation (FVA) to provide support if she won, leading to Rojas receiving her first pair of track spikes. In 2012, she placed fourth at the Youth Championships. However, she performed better in higher-level competitions, taking sixth at the Ibero-American Championships with a jump of 5.7 ft (1.75 m) and securing a bronze medal at the South American Under-23 Championships.
The 2013 season saw Rojas further improve her personal best in high jump to 6.1 ft (1.87 m) in Barquisimeto, setting a new South American junior record. She also recorded a 20 ft (6.17 m) long jump and an 11.94-second 100-m sprint. That year, she earned two international silver medals at the 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships (losing on countback) and the Bolivarian Games, where she debuted in the long jump, finishing sixth. Her long jump improved to 20 ft (6.23 m) by the end of 2013.
From 2014, Rojas began regularly competing in both horizontal and vertical jump events. In March, she secured her first senior gold medal in the high jump at the South American Games in Santiago. At the World Junior Championships, she finished 11th in the long jump and 17th in the triple jump. She then won her first long jump gold medal at the Pan American Sports Festival and was honored by being chosen to lead the returning Venezuelan delegation and presented with the national flag by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Tony Álvarez. Rojas achieved a long jump/triple jump double gold at the 2014 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, setting a championship record of 21 ft (6.36 m) in the long jump. At senior level, she narrowly missed medals in both disciplines at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, placing fourth in each.
In 2014, Rojas developed a stronger affinity for the triple jump and convinced her coach, Velásquez, to allow her to change her primary discipline. Shortly thereafter, she set the Venezuelan under-20 record, leaping 45 ft (13.65 m). The FVA recognized her as a naturally promising athlete, noting her unique style and believing she could achieve much greater distances with proper technique. Rojas cemented her status as Venezuela's best all-time jumper at the 2015 Venezuelan Championships, where she set national records of 22 ft (6.57 m) in the long jump and 46 ft (14.17 m) in the triple jump, winning both events. At 19, she made a gold-medal debut at the senior level in the triple jump at the 2015 South American Championships. She then took silver in the event at the 2015 Military World Games.
3.2. Rise to International Prominence (2016-2021)
Since 2015, Rojas has been coached by the renowned Cuban long jumper, Iván Pedroso. Their collaboration began when Rojas, through a Facebook message, reached out to Pedroso after the social network's algorithm suggested they connect. Pedroso recognized her potential and invited her to train with him in Spain. This marked a pivotal moment, as Rojas then relocated to Guadalajara, Spain, where Pedroso is based, to live and train. On November 21, 2016, she officially signed with the athletics division of FC Barcelona. With her measurements listed at 6.3 ft (1.92 m) and 159 lb (72 kg), Rojas expressed pride in representing the club she had long supported, while FC Barcelona proclaimed her to be "without doubt the most honored international athlete the Club has ever had." The club pursued her signing on the recommendation of their mutual sponsor, Nike, further solidified by Rojas's personal support for the FC Barcelona football team.
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Rojas earned a silver medal in the triple jump with a leap of 49 ft (14.98 m), finishing just behind Colombia's Caterine Ibargüen, who took gold with 50 ft (15.17 m). This historic achievement made Rojas the first Venezuelan woman to win an Olympic medal. Notably, it occurred in the same event where Venezuela had secured its very first Olympic medal with Asnoldo Devonish's bronze in 1952. The national reaction to her medal was immense. However, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro's televised boast that the country was becoming a "sporting superpower" and fulfilling its 2008 promise of a "generation of gold" drew criticism, as Rojas's silver was the highest accolade among Venezuela's three medals at those games, amidst a deteriorating socioeconomic situation in the country.
On August 7, 2017, Rojas won her first outdoor World Championship title in London, defeating Ibargüen and becoming the first Venezuelan athlete to achieve a gold medal at the championships. Her fifth attempt, a jump of 49 ft (14.91 m), was 0.8 in (2 cm) further than Ibargüen's. Rojas expressed that this victory "came at both the best and the worst moment for Venezuela," hoping that a world champion could offer hope to a nation engulfed in the 2017 Venezuelan protests. Rojas spent much of 2018 sidelined due to injury, during which Ibargüen regained dominance in the sport. Rojas returned to competition in 2019, quickly reasserting her top form. In February 2020, she broke the women's indoor triple jump world record at the Meeting Villa de Madrid. On her fourth jump, she surpassed her own South American record of 50 ft (15.29 m), and then, with her final attempt, landed at 51 ft (15.43 m). At that time, this not only shattered her previous absolute record but also stood as the second-furthest female triple jump ever recorded.
Despite achieving a wind-assisted world-lead long jump in 2021, Rojas opted to contest only the triple jump at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was selected to be a flagbearer for Venezuela at the opening ceremony, though she ultimately missed the parade. On August 1, 2021, Rojas achieved Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Her very first jump set a new Olympic record of 51 ft (15.41 m), surpassing Françoise Mbango Etone's 50 ft (15.39 m) record from Beijing 2008. On her final attempt, she further improved this mark to an astonishing 51 ft (15.67 m) (consisting of a 19 ft (5.86 m) hop, a 13 ft (3.82 m) skip, and a 20 ft (5.99 m) jump), simultaneously breaking the world record that had been held by Inessa Kravets since 1995 with 51 ft (15.5 m). Rojas became Venezuela's first female Olympic gold medalist and the nation's third gold medalist overall. Her consistent dominance in the event has firmly established her enduring nickname: "the Queen of the Triple Jump."
3.3. Continued Dominance and Recent Career (2022-Present)
Rojas initiated her 2022 season by focusing on the long jump, expressing her ambition to "make an impact in this event." In February, she achieved a new indoor personal best and national record of 22 ft (6.81 m). On March 2, she competed in the triple jump at the World Indoor Athletics Final in Madrid, where she delivered a world-leading jump, coming just short of her own existing world record for the second-furthest female indoor triple jump. On March 20, 2022, Rojas further cemented her legendary status by breaking her own world record with an absolute best female triple jump of 52 ft (15.74 m) at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. This monumental jump was exactly 3.3 ft (1 m) ahead of the silver medalist, Ukrainian long jump specialist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk. Following this achievement, Rojas shared with Cathal Dennehy of World Athletics her unwavering goal of jumping over 52 ft (16 m), declaring it her destiny.
In the 2022 outdoor athletics season, Rojas did not compete until events held in Spain. On June 8, in Guadalajara, she surpassed her own long jump record, achieving 23 ft (6.93 m) and qualifying for the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene in July. However, she was unable to contest the long jump at the World Championships because she had worn triple jump shoes during qualifying, and a subsequent injury prevented her from qualifying at another event. Despite this setback, she successfully defended her triple jump title in Eugene with a jump of 51 ft (15.47 m), a mark just shy of the championship record.
At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Rojas displayed her characteristic resilience. On her final attempt, she leapt 49 ft (15.08 m), overtaking Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk to secure her fourth consecutive World Championship title in the triple jump. In a significant setback, Rojas underwent surgery in April 2024 after sustaining an Achilles injury during a training session in Spain, leading her to announce her withdrawal from the Paris Olympics.
4. Records and Personal Bests
Yulimar Rojas holds several world, Olympic, continental, and national records, underscoring her extraordinary dominance in the triple jump and her significant achievements in the long jump.
- 100 m - 11.94 seconds (2013)
- 4 × 100 m - 46.70 seconds (2013)
- High jump - 6.1 ft (1.87 m) (2014)
- Long jump - 23 ft (6.88 m) (2021) Venezuelan National Record
- In jumps at the 2021 Spanish Athletics Club Championships in La Nucia, Alicante, she achieved 24 ft (7.27 m) (wind-aided, +2.7 m/s) and 23 ft (7.06 m) (wind-aided, +2.9 m/s), which are not counted due to excessive wind assistance. In a jump at the 2022 Reunion de Atletismo Ciudad de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, she achieved 23 ft (6.93 m) (wind-aided, +0.4 m/s) but the jump was disqualified due to wearing non-approved shoes.
- Indoor long jump - 22 ft (6.81 m) (2022) Venezuelan National Record
- Triple jump - 51 ft (15.67 m) (2021) World Record, Olympic Record
- Indoor triple jump - 52 ft (15.74 m) (2022) World Record
Rojas currently holds the following significant records:
- World Athletics Indoor Championships record in women's triple jump (since 2022)
- Diamond League record in women's triple jump (since 2021)
- World record in women's triple jump (since 2021)
- Olympic record in women's triple jump (since 2021)
- World record in women's triple jump - indoor (since 2020)
- Venezuelan record in women's long jump - indoor (since 2020)
- Pan American record in women's triple jump (since 2019)
- South American record in women's triple jump (since 2019)
- South American record in women's triple jump - indoor (since 2016)
- Venezuelan record in women's triple jump - indoor (since 2016)
- Venezuelan record in women's long jump (since 2015)
- Venezuelan record in women's triple jump (since 2014)
- Venezuelan under-20 record in women's long jump (since 2014)
- South American Under-23 Championship record in women's long jump (2014-2018)
- South American junior record in female high jump (2013-2018)
5. International Competition Results
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | South American Junior Championships | Medellín, Colombia | 1st | High jump | 5.8 ft (1.78 m) |
| 2012 | Ibero-American Championships | Barquisimeto, Venezuela | 6th | High jump | 5.7 ft (1.75 m) |
| South American U23 Championships | São Paulo, Brazil | 3rd | High jump | 5.7 ft (1.73 m) | |
| South American Youth Championships | Mendoza, Argentina | 4th | High jump | 5.5 ft (1.68 m) | |
| 2013 | Pan American Junior Championships | Lima, Peru | 2nd | High jump | 5.8 ft (1.76 m) |
| Bolivarian Games | Trujillo, Peru | 2nd | High jump | 5.8 ft (1.76 m) | |
| 6th | Long jump | 19 ft (5.87 m) | |||
| 2014 | South American Games | Santiago, Chile | 1st | High jump | 5.9 ft (1.79 m) |
| World Junior Championships | Eugene, United States | 11th | Long jump | 19 ft (5.81 m) | |
| 17th | Triple jump | 43 ft (12.99 m) | |||
| Pan American Sports Festival | Mexico City, Mexico | 1st | Long jump | 21 ft (6.53 m) (wind-aided) | |
| South American U23 Championships | Montevideo, Uruguay | 1st | Long jump | 21 ft (6.36 m) (Championship Record) | |
| 1st | Triple jump | 44 ft (13.35 m) | |||
| Central American and Caribbean Games | Veracruz, Mexico | 4th | Long jump | 20 ft (6.24 m) | |
| 4th | Triple jump | 44 ft (13.54 m) | |||
| 2015 | South American Championships | Lima, Peru | 4th | Long jump | 20 ft (6.2 m) (wind-aided, +2.4 m/s) |
| 1st | Triple jump | 46 ft (14.14 m) (wind-aided, +2.8 m/s) | |||
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, United States | 1st | Triple jump | 47 ft (14.41 m) |
| Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 2nd | Triple jump | 49 ft (14.98 m) | |
| 2017 | South American Championships | Asunción, Paraguay | 2nd | Triple jump | 47 ft (14.36 m) |
| World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 1st | Triple jump | 49 ft (14.91 m) | |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1st | Triple jump | 48 ft (14.63 m) |
| 2019 | Pan American Games | Lima, Peru | 1st | Triple jump | 50 ft (15.11 m) |
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | Triple jump | 50 ft (15.37 m) | |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | Triple jump | 51 ft (15.67 m) (Olympic Record, World Record) |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | Triple jump | 52 ft (15.74 m) (Championship Record, World Record) |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 1st | Triple jump | 51 ft (15.47 m) |
| 2023 | Central American and Caribbean Games | San Salvador, El Salvador | 1st | Triple jump | 50 ft (15.16 m) |
| World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | Triple jump | 49 ft (15.08 m) |
6. Personal Life
Beyond her athletic endeavors, Yulimar Rojas has publicly embraced her identity and engaged in social activism, reflecting her commitment to human rights and social progress.
6.1. Identity and Activism
Yulimar Rojas is openly lesbian and has emerged as a prominent LGBT+ activist in her home country of Venezuela. She frequently dyes her cropped hair in vibrant colors; for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she chose a pale pink, explaining that it symbolized hope and strength for her. Her public stance and activism contribute significantly to the visibility and advocacy for LGBT+ rights, utilizing her global platform to champion social issues close to her heart.
6.2. Public Image and Endorsements
Rojas's public image extends to her political and commercial affiliations. She has expressed gratitude to the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez for promoting fitness initiatives in Venezuela, which she stated allowed impoverished citizens like herself to access sports. However, her interactions with current Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro have drawn criticism within Venezuela. Following her success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Rojas engaged in a widely publicized phone call with Maduro, described by some as "guided if not forced," which led to significant backlash and highlighted the complexities of political associations for public figures in her country. In April 2022, Rojas became the new face of Banco de Venezuela, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, leveraging her influence in a commercial capacity.
7. Honours and Recognition
Yulimar Rojas has received numerous honors and widespread recognition for her exceptional athletic achievements and impact.
Prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics, following her win at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Rojas was bestowed with the Venezuelan honor, the Order of José Félix Ribas - First Class, named after the Venezuelan independence leader José Félix Ribas. This prestigious award was conferred upon her by President Nicolás Maduro at Miraflores Palace on March 23, 2016, during a 54-minute obligatory transmission on Venezuelan national television.
In tribute to her accomplishments, a mural depicting Rojas jumping over Angel Falls graces a wall in Caracas. Another mural, featuring Rojas alongside footballer Alexander Rondón, can be found at the Simón Bolívar Sports Complex, the very place where she commenced her training. In 2017, the Complejo deportivo Yulimar Rojas (Yulimar Rojas Sports Complex) in Barcelona, Venezuela, was officially named in her honor. Further cementing her legacy, in May 2022, the government of the state of Aragua announced a partnership with local eco-sports product company Blackforce to construct an Olympic-standard triple jump arena, also in Rojas's honor.
Rojas was named Latin American Sportswoman of the Year by the annual vote hosted by Prensa Latina in both 2017 and 2019. In 2017, she was nominated for Univision's Female Athlete of the Year, an award won by Paola Longoria. She was also a nominee for the Panam Female Athlete of the Year award in 2019, which was ultimately awarded to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. World Athletics recognized her immense potential by naming her the 2017 World Athletics Rising Star (Female). In 2019, she was a finalist for the prestigious World Athlete of the Year (Female) honor, which she subsequently won in 2020, becoming the first Venezuelan to receive this accolade. Rojas stated that this award provided her with "a lot of motivation, a lot of strength to keep on track with [her] career." In 2020, Outsports named her the LGBTQ Female Athlete of the Year, and Track & Field News honored her as the Female Most Valuable Performer in Athletics. In 2022, she was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year, an award that went to British tennis player Emma Raducanu. Later that year, Rojas was included in the BBC's 100 Women list for 2022.
8. Criticism and Controversies
Yulimar Rojas has faced some criticism, particularly concerning her public interactions with political figures in Venezuela, which have led to scrutiny and debate.
One notable instance of controversy arose from her public association with Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. Following her gold medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Rojas participated in a phone call with Maduro, which was broadcast on national television as an "obligatory transmission." This interaction drew significant criticism within Venezuela. Many observers and critics suggested that the call was "guided if not forced," implying that Rojas's participation might have been influenced or pressured by the government. Such public engagements with a politically controversial figure like Maduro, particularly amidst the country's ongoing political and socioeconomic crisis, led to backlash and debates about the implications of athletes being associated with the ruling political party. This association highlighted the complex position of prominent Venezuelan figures who achieve international success while their home country faces severe political and social challenges.