Yulimar Rojas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Yulimar Rojas

Rojas in 2019
Personal information
Born	(1995-10-21) 21 October 1995 (age 29) Caracas, Venezuela
Height	1.92 m
Weight	72 kg
Sport
Country	Venezuela
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Triple jump, long jump
Team	FC Barcelona Athletics
Coached by	Iván Pedroso
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1st (2023)
Personal best(s)	Outdoor Triple jump: 15.67 m (51 ft 4.80413386 in) WR (Tokyo 2021) Long jump: 7.27 m (23 ft 10.09547244 in) w (La Nucia 2021) 6.88 m (22 ft 6.74114174 in) NR (La Nucia 2021) Indoor Triple jump: 15.74 m (51 ft 7.56003937 in) i WR (Belgrade 2022) Long jump: 6.81 m (22 ft 3.98523622 in) i NR (Liévin 2022)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Venezuela Olympic Games Gold 2020 Tokyo Triple jump Silver 2016 Rio de Janeiro Triple jump World Championships Gold 2017 London Triple jump Gold 2019 Doha Triple jump Gold 2022 Eugene Triple jump Gold 2023 Budapest Triple jump World Indoor Championships Gold 2016 Portland Triple jump Gold 2018 Birmingham Triple jump Gold 2022 Belgrade Triple jump Diamond League 2021 Triple jump 2022 Triple jump 2023 Triple jump Pan American Games Gold 2019 Lima Triple jump South American Games Gold 2014 Santiago High jump South American Championships Gold 2015 Lima Triple jump Silver 2017 Asunción Triple jump

Yulimar Rojas Rodríguez (born October 21, 1995) is a super star athlete from Venezuela. She holds the world record for the women's triple jump. Yulimar is the 2020 Olympic champion in triple jump. She has also won the World Championships four times and the World Indoor Championships three times. People often call her la reina del triple salto, which means "the queen of the triple jump."

Yulimar grew up in a simple home in Venezuela. She loved sports from a young age. Even though it was sometimes hard to find places to practice, she worked very hard. She started with high jump and sprinting. Later, she found her passion for the triple jump. In 2015, she moved to Spain to train with her coach, Iván Pedroso. She quickly became the best in the world at triple jump. In 2021, she also started competing seriously in the long jump.

Early Life and Sports Beginnings

Yulimar Rojas was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She grew up in a small home in the Altavista area. Her family moved there so her stepfather could find work. Yulimar is one of six children. She has said that growing up in a big family helped her to work hard and overcome challenges.

When she was young, Yulimar was very tall. She wanted to play volleyball after watching the 2008 Summer Olympics. But there was no volleyball team nearby. She also tried basketball, but couldn't find coaches. Her stepfather, who used to be a boxer, told her to try athletics.

Yulimar started training with coach Jesús "Tuqueque" Velásquez. They trained at the Simón Bolívar Sports Complex. Coach Velásquez shared that Yulimar and other young athletes had to help dig the sandpit where they practiced jumps. Two of Yulimar's sisters, Yerilda and Yorgelys Zapata, are also athletes. They train in throwing events at the same stadium.

Yulimar's first athletics event was shot put. She won her first competition but decided to try other sports. At 15, she entered her first high jump competition. She was inspired by Asnoldo Devonish, who was Venezuela's only Olympic medalist in athletics before her.

Becoming a Champion

Early Career: 2011-2015

Yulimar showed great talent early on. She was invited to international competitions. In 2011, at age 15, she won her first high jump competition in Colombia. She set a new national youth record. This win helped her get her first special running shoes, called "spikes."

In 2013, she improved her personal best in high jump to 1.87 meters. This was a new South American junior record. She also started trying the long jump. By 2014, she was competing in both long jump and high jump. She won her first gold medal in high jump at the 2014 South American Games. She also won gold in long jump at the Pan American Sports Festival.

Yulimar became more interested in the triple jump in 2014. She convinced her coach to let her focus on it. She quickly set a new Venezuelan record for athletes under 20 years old. In 2015, she became Venezuela's best jumper ever. She set national records in both long jump and triple jump. She also won gold in triple jump at the 2015 South American Championships.

Triple Jump Specialist: 2016-2021

Rojas at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Since 2015, Yulimar has been coached by Iván Pedroso, a famous Cuban long jumper. She reached out to him on Facebook. Pedroso saw her potential and invited her to train with him in Spain. Yulimar moved to Guadalajara, Spain, to live and train. In 2016, she officially joined the FC Barcelona athletics team. She was proud to represent the club she had always supported.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Yulimar won a silver medal in the triple jump. She was the first Venezuelan woman to win an Olympic medal. This was a huge moment for her country.

In 2017, Yulimar won her first outdoor World Championship in London. She beat her rival, Caterine Ibargüen. Yulimar hoped her win would bring hope to Venezuela. She took some time off in 2018 due to an injury. In February 2020, she broke the women's indoor triple jump world record.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Yulimar was chosen to carry Venezuela's flag. On August 1, 2021, she won the gold medal. She set a new Olympic record with her first jump. Then, on her final attempt, she broke the world record with a jump of 15.67 meters! This made her Venezuela's first female Olympic gold medalist. Because of her amazing skills, she is known as the "queen of the triple jump."

Dual Events and Continued Success: 2022-Present

Rojas landing the world record triple jump in Belgrade on 20 March 2022

Yulimar started her 2022 season by focusing on the long jump. She set a new indoor personal best and national record of 6.81 meters. On March 20, 2022, she broke her own world record in the triple jump at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. She jumped an incredible 15.74 meters! After this win, she shared that her goal is to jump over 16 meters.

In the 2022 outdoor season, Yulimar continued to excel. She defended her triple jump title at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA. She jumped 15.47 meters, showing her continued dominance.

At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Yulimar won her fourth world title. She made a final amazing jump of 15.08 meters to win the gold. In April 2024, Yulimar had surgery for an Achilles injury. This meant she could not compete in the Paris Olympics.

Personal Bests

• 100 m – 11.94 s (2013)
• 4 × 100 m – 46.70 s (2013)
• High jump – 1.87 m (2014)
• Long jump – 6.88 m (2021) Venezuelan Record
  • Indoor long jump – 6.81 m (2022) Venezuelan Record
• Triple jump – 15.67 m (2021) World Record, Olympic Record
  • Indoor triple jump – 15.74 m (2022) World Record

Records Held

• 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)

Personal Life

Yulimar Rojas is openly lesbian. She is also an activist for LGBT+ rights in her home country. She often dyes her short hair in bright colors. For the 2020 Olympics, she chose pale pink. She said it showed hope and strength.

Yulimar has thanked former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez for helping to promote sports in Venezuela. She said this helped people like her get into sports. In April 2022, she became the face of the Banco de Venezuela.

International Competitions

Honors and Awards

At the 2019 Madrid Indoor Athletics Meeting, Rojas (center) and other athletes spoke at a conference of the "greatest athletes in the world".

After winning the World Indoor Championships in 2016, Yulimar received a special Venezuelan honor. It was called the Order José Félix Ribas – First Class. This award was given to her by the president of Venezuela.

There is a mural of Yulimar Rojas in Caracas. It shows her jumping over Angel Falls. Another mural of her is at the Simón Bolívar Sports Complex. This is where she first started training. In 2017, a sports complex in Barcelona, Venezuela, was named the Complejo deportivo Yulimar Rojas in her honor. In 2022, the government of Aragua state announced plans to build an Olympic-standard triple jump arena in her honor.

Yulimar was named Latin American Sportswoman of the Year in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, she was also nominated for Univision's Female Athlete of the Year. She was a finalist for the World Athlete of the Year in 2019. She won this award in 2020, becoming the first Venezuelan to receive it. She said it gave her a lot of motivation to continue her career.

In 2020, she was named the LGBTQ Female Athlete of the Year by Outsports. She was also named the Female Most Valuable Performer in Athletics by Track & Field News. In 2022, she was chosen as one of the BBC's 100 women.

See also

In Spanish: Yulimar Rojas para niños