Venezuela at the Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Venezuela at the Olympics
IOC code	VEN
NOC	Venezuelan Olympic Committee
Website
Medals Ranked 82nd	Gold Silver Bronze Total 3 7 9 19
Summer appearances
1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018

Venezuela first joined the Olympic Games in 1948. Since then, Venezuelan athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games. Venezuela also started sending athletes to the Winter Olympic Games in 1998. The Venezuelan Olympic Committee (COV) was created in 1935 to help organize and support these athletes.

The first Venezuelan athlete to compete in the Olympics was cyclist Julio César León at the London 1948 Games. In 1968, Francisco Rodríguez won Venezuela's first gold medal. The first Venezuelan to compete in the Winter Olympics was Iginia Boccalandro in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Venezuelan athletes have won a total of nineteen medals. All of these medals were won at the Summer Games. Boxing is the most successful sport for Venezuela, with six medals (one gold, three silver, two bronze). The most successful Venezuelan Olympian is Yulimar Rojas. She is the only Venezuelan to win multiple medals at the regular Games, with one gold and one silver in women's triple jump.

Venezuela's Olympic Journey

The first Venezuelan athlete to ever compete in the Olympic Games was Trujillo cyclist Julio César León. He competed in the London 1948 Games.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics, Asnoldo Devonish won a bronze medal. This was the very first Olympic medal for Venezuela. In 1968, Francisco Rodríguez won the country's first gold medal. Venezuelan athletes continued to win silver and bronze medals in different games until 1984.

The first Venezuelan to compete in the Winter Olympic Games was Iginia Boccalandro. She participated in Nagano 1998. Rafael Vidal won a bronze medal in swimming (200 m butterfly) at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Arlindo Gouveia won a gold medal in taekwondo at Barcelona 1992. However, taekwondo was only an exhibition sport back then. The Venezuelan Taekwondo Federation officially counts this medal, along with a bronze won by Adriana Carmona in the same sport, since 2018.

Athens 2004: Two Bronze Medals

Venezuela sent 48 athletes to the 2004 Athens Games. They won two bronze medals. These were won by Adriana Carmona in taekwondo and Israel Rubio in weightlifting.

Turin 2006: Winter Olympics Return

Venezuela took part in the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics. Werner Hoeger competed for Venezuela in the luge event.

Beijing 2008: More Athletes Than Ever

At the 2008 Beijing Games, Venezuela almost doubled its number of athletes from the previous games. They went from 48 athletes in 2004 to 108 in 2008. This showed great progress!

For the first time, Venezuela qualified three team sports: men's and women's volleyball, and the women's softball team. Before this, Venezuela had only qualified team sports in 1980 (soccer) and 1992 (basketball). In these games, Venezuelan Dalia Contreras won a bronze medal in Taekwondo. She competed in the 49 kilograms category.

London 2012: Fencing Gold

Fencer Rubén Limardo won Venezuela's third gold medal. Limardo also became the first Latin American to win a gold medal in fencing in over 100 years, since 1904.

Sochi 2014: Alpine Skiing

Venezuela participated in the Winter Olympic Games for the fourth time in 2014. Athlete Antonio Pardo Andretta competed in alpine skiing.

Rio 2016: Three More Medals

At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Venezuela had almost as many athletes as in Beijing 2008. They also won more medals than in 2008. Venezuela earned three medals: one bronze and two silver. These were won by Yoel Finol in boxing, Yulimar Rojas in athletics, and Stefany Hernández in cycling.

Tokyo 2020: A Historic Gold

In the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Venezuela had 44 athletes. This was their smallest team since 1988. However, they won 4 medals!

Julio Mayora and Keydomar Vallenilla won silver medals in weightlifting. Daniel Dhers won a silver medal in BMX freestyle. Yulimar Rojas won a gold medal in triple jump. She broke both the world and Olympic records in her event with a jump of 15.67 meters. She also became the first woman to win a gold medal for Venezuela in Olympic history.

Olympic Medal Achievements

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Athletes	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total	Rank
1896 Athens	did not participate
1900 Paris
1904 St. Louis
1908 London
1912 Stockholm
1920 Antwerp
1924 Paris
1928 Amsterdam
1932 Los Angeles
1936 Berlin
1948 London	1	0	0	0	0	–
1952 Helsinki	38	0	0	1	1	43
1956 Melbourne	19	0	0	0	0	–
1960 Rome	17	0	0	1	1	44
1964 Tokyo	16	0	0	0	0	–
1968 Mexico City	36	1	0	0	1	30
1972 Munich	26	0	0	0	0	–
1976 Montreal	36	0	1	0	1	35
1980 Moscow	48	0	1	0	1	33
1984 Los Angeles	26	0	0	3	3	41
1988 Seoul	18	0	0	0	0	–
1992 Barcelona	36	0	0	0	0	–
1996 Atlanta	39	0	0	0	0	–
2000 Sydney	51	0	0	0	0	–
2004 Athens	48	0	0	2	2	68
2008 Beijing	110	0	0	1	1	86
2012 London	69	1	0	0	1	50
2016 Rio de Janeiro	87	0	2	1	3	65
2020 Tokyo	44	1	3	0	4	46
2024 Paris	33	0	0	0	0	–
2028 Los Angeles	future event
Total		3	7	9	19	82

Medals by Winter Games

Games	Athletes	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total	Rank
1924 Chamonix	did not participate
1928 St. Moritz
1932 Lake Placid
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1948 St. Moritz
1952 Oslo
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo
1960 Squaw Valley
1964 Innsbruck
1968 Grenoble
1972 Sapporo
1976 Innsbruck
1980 Lake Placid
1984 Sarajevo
1988 Calgary
1992 Albertville
1994 Lillehammer
1998 Nagano	1	0	0	0	0	–
2002 Salt Lake City	4	0	0	0	0	–
2006 Turin	1	0	0	0	0	–
2010 Vancouver	did not participate
2014 Sochi	1	0	0	0	0	–
2018 Pyeongchang	did not participate
2022 Beijing
2026 Milan/Cortina	future event
Total		0	0	0	0	–

Medals by Summer Sport

Sports	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total	Rank
Boxing	1	3	2	6	33
Athletics	1	1	1	3	62
Fencing	1	0	0	1	27
Weightlifting	0	2	1	3	50
Cycling	0	1	1	2	37
Taekwondo	0	0	2	2	35
Shooting	0	0	1	1	68
Swimming	0	0	1	1	56
Total	3	7	9	19	75

Medals by Gender

Gender	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze	Total
Men	2	6	6	14
Women	1	1	3	5
Mixed	0	0	0	0
Total	3	7	9	19

List of Venezuelan Medalists

Summer Olympics Medalists

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
3 Bronze	Devonish, AsnoldoAsnoldo Devonish	1952 Helsinki	Athletics	Men's triple jump
3 Bronze	Forcella, EnricoEnrico Forcella	1960 Rome	Shooting	Men's 50-metre rifle prone
1 Gold	Rodríguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodríguez	1968 Mexico City	Boxing	Men's light flyweight
2 Silver	Gamarro, PedroPedro Gamarro	1976 Montreal	Boxing	Men's welterweight
2 Silver	Piñango, BernardoBernardo Piñango	1980 Moscow	Boxing	Men's bantamweight
3 Bronze	Bolívar, MarcelinoMarcelino Bolívar	1984 Los Angeles	Boxing	Men's light flyweight
3 Bronze	Catari, OmarOmar Catari	1984 Los Angeles	Boxing	Men's featherweight
3 Bronze	Vidal, RafaelRafael Vidal	1984 Los Angeles	Swimming	Men's 200-metre butterfly
3 Bronze	Carmona, AdrianaAdriana Carmona	2004 Athens	Taekwondo	Women's +67 kg
3 Bronze	Rubio, Israel JoseIsrael Jose Rubio	2004 Athens	Weightlifting	Men's 62 kg
3 Bronze	Dalia Contreras	2008 Beijing	Taekwondo	Women's 49 kg
1 Gold	Rubén Limardo	2012 London	Fencing	Men's épée
2 Silver	Yulimar Rojas	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Women's triple jump
2 Silver	Yoel Finol	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Boxing	Men's flyweight
3 Bronze	Stefany Hernández	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Cycling	Women's BMX
1 Gold	Yulimar Rojas	2020 Tokyo	Athletics	Women's triple jump
2 Silver	Julio Mayora	2020 Tokyo	Weightlifting	Men's 73 kg
2 Silver	Keydomar Vallenilla	2020 Tokyo	Weightlifting	Men's 96 kg
2 Silver	Daniel Dhers	2020 Tokyo	Cycling	Men's BMX freestyle

Athletes with Multiple Medals

Most Successful Venezuelan Olympian Over Time

This table shows how the title of "most successful Venezuelan Olympian" has changed through history.

Athlete	Sport	Date	Gender				Total
Devonish, AsnoldoAsnoldo Devonish	Athletics	23 July 1952	M	0	0	1	1
Forcella, EnricoEnrico Forcella	Shooting	1960	M	0	0	1	1
Rodríguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodríguez	Boxing	October 1968	M	1	0	0	1
Limardo, RubénRubén Limardo	Fencing	2012	M	1	0	0	1
Rojas, YulimarYulimar Rojas	Athletics	1 August 2021	F	1	1	0	2

See Also

In Spanish: Venezuela en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

• List of flag bearers for Venezuela at the Olympics
• Category:Olympic competitors for Venezuela
• Venezuela at the Paralympics
• Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics