Yulimar Rojas is a Venezuelan athlete who is one of the most successful triple jumpers in history.
Born on October 21, 1995, in Caracas, Venezuela, she grew up in a ranchito (shack) in the Altavista area of Pozuelos, AnzoƔtegui, and is one of six siblings:
Rojas holds the world record for women’s triple jump, at 15.74 meters (51 feet 7+1/2 inches).
She is a four-time world champion in the triple jump, having won the title in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Rojas is also a three-time world indoor champion, having won the title in 2016, 2018 and 2022.
She won a silver medal in the triple jump at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and a gold medal in the same event at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Rojas trains with the iconic Cuban athlete IvƔn Pedroso in Spain.
In addition to her athletic achievements, Rojas was named the LGBTQ Female Athlete of the Year by Outsports in 2020.
Yulimar Rojas biography
Rojas was born in Caracas and raised in a ranchito in the Altavista area of Pozuelos; her family had moved there so that her stepfather could find work in the oil industry.
She is one of six siblings, and has said that growing up in a large, poor family gave her drive to overcome adversities, which helped her career.
Their ranchito has since been destroyed in bad weather; the family was given better housing in 2014 following Rojas’s success.
In 2021, Rojas told RTVE that she had grown up only seeking to have some dignity in life, but, after she began competing, she had promised her mother, Yulecsy RodrĆguez, that one day she would buy her a small house with walls, and strove to be able to make good on that promise.
Her early coaches reflected that, despite being talented and persevering, Rojas could not have become a successful athlete if she had not left the country in 2015, as she would not have had access to food and medical treatment to stay healthy
Inspired by the Venezuelan delegation at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Rojas wanted to become a volleyball player, but there was no nearby team.
She also played basketball, but similarly could not find coaches.
Rojas was accepted to a specialist sports school and her stepfather, former boxer Pedro Zapata, told her to try athletics rather than volleyball.
She was also encouraged to try athletics under coach JesĆŗs “Tuqueque” VelĆ”squez at the SimĆ³n BolĆvar Sports Complex in Puerto la Cruz.
VelƔsquez told AFP that, though the stadium was financed by the government at the time, Rojas and other young athletes had to help dig the sandpit where they could practice jumps, under a jujube tree.
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Yulimar Rojas age
Rojas was born on October 21, 1995, making her 27 years old as of August 2023.
Yulimar Rojas personal life
Rojas is openly lesbian, and she is an LGBT+ activist in her home country.
She often dyes her cropped hair in bright colours; she chose pale pink for the 2020 Olympics, saying it reflected hope and strength.
Yulimar Rojas records
Outlined below are records held by Rojas as of August 2023.
- World Athletics Indoor Championships record in women’s triple jump ā indoor (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 ā indoor (since 2020)
- Venezuelan record in women’s long jump ā 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 ā indoor (since 2016)
- Venezuelan record in women’s triple jump ā 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 (2014ā2018)
- South American junior record in female high jump (2013ā2018)
Yulimar Rojas awards
In 2016, Rojas was awarded the Venezuelan honor Order JosĆ© FĆ©lix Ribas ā First Class (named for Venezuelan independence leader JosĆ© FĆ©lix Ribas).
This was conferred to her by NicolƔs Maduro at Miraflores Palace on 23 March 2016, with the award ceremony shown in a 54-minute obligatory transmission in Venezuela.
There is a mural of Rojas, depicted jumping over Angel Falls, in Caracas; another mural, of Rojas and footballer Alexander RondĆ³n, is at the SimĆ³n BolĆvar Sports Complex, where she began training.
In 2017, the Complejo deportivo Yulimar Rojas (Yulimar Rojas Sports Complex) in Barcelona, Venezuela, was named in her honor.
In May 2022, the government of the state of Aragua announced that it had partnered with local eco-sports product company Blackforce to build an Olympic-standard triple jump arena in Rojas’s honor.
In 2017 and 2019 she was named Latin American Sportswoman of the Year from the annual vote hosted by Prensa Latina.
In 2017 she was also nominated for Univision’s Female Athlete of the Year, which was won by Paola Longoria, and in 2019 was nominated for the Panam Female Athlete of the Year award, which went to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Rojas was named the 2017 World Athletics Rising Star (Female), and was a finalist for the 2019 World Athlete of the Year (Female) honour.
In 2020, she was also named the LGBTQ Female Athlete of the Year by Outsports, and Female Most Valuable Performer in Athletics by Track & Field News.
She was nominated for the 2022 Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year, which was won by British tennis player Emma Raducanu.
Rojas was chosen as one of the BBC’s 100 women for 2022.
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