Yulimar Rojas

Yulimar Rojas (born October 21, 1995, Caracas, Venezuela) is considered the “Queen of the Triple Jump,” known for her series of historic performances. In 2022 she set the world record in the sport, jumping 15.74 meters (51.64 feet). In addition, at the 2020 Tokyo Games (which were delayed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), she became the first female Venezuelan to win an Olympic gold medal. The charismatic Rojas is also a high-profile advocate for LGBTQ rights.

Early life

Rojas, who is one of seven children in her family, grew up on a small farm in what she has called “humble beginnings.” She later said that the adversity she faced as a child helped her succeed later in life.

Rojas initially wanted to play volleyball, but there was no local team. She eventually turned to track and field and competed in such events as the high jump, the long jump, and the triple jump. Although she had success in all three sports—she notably won a gold medal in the high jump at the South American Games in 2014—she began to gravitate toward the triple jump. In that sport the competitor hops, taking off and landing on the same foot; steps, landing on the other foot; and jumps, landing usually with both feet together. Rojas later stated that she thought that she would do well in the triple jump because of her height (she is 6 feet 3 inches [1.905 meters] tall), power, and speed.

In 2015 Rojas sent a message on Facebook to Iván Pedroso, an Olympic gold-medal-winning long jumper from Cuba whom she admired. She mentioned wanting to train with him, and he agreed to be her coach. By then, Pedroso was living in Spain, and Rojas subsequently moved there. She later called their meeting “destiny” and “a turning point” in her life.

World records

In 2016 Rojas won a gold medal at the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon. Later that year she made her Olympic debut at the Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she claimed a silver medal. In 2017 she competed at the outdoor world championships in London. There she won her first world outdoor title. More world championships followed, leading to a momentous performance in 2020. That year she set the world indoor record with a jump of 15.43 meters (50.62 feet) at a meet in Madrid. She surpassed Russian Tatyana Lebedeva’s record by 7 cm (2.76 inches). Rojas was named the female World Athlete of the Year by World Athletics.

However, that was just a warm-up to Rojas’s performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021). There she jumped 15.67 meters (51.41 feet), breaking the world record of 15.50 meters (50.85 feet) set by Inessa Kravets of Ukraine in 1995. In the process, Rojas became Venezuela’s first female Olympic gold medal winner.

In 2022 Rojas broke her own record, jumping 15.74 meters (51.64 feet), as she claimed the gold medal at the world indoor championships in Belgrade, Serbia. With that victory, she became the first triple jumper to win three world indoor titles. The following year Rojas continued to make history, winning an unprecedented fourth world outdoor triple jump title. The win came at the 2023 world championships in Budapest, where she had a shaky start and barely advanced to the final round. Rojas gave herself a pep talk and then made a winning jump of 15.08 meters (49.48 feet). Writing for the Associated Press, Pat Graham called her “as close to automatic these days as Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was in his heyday.”

The following month Rojas announced on social media that she would not compete in the 2023 Pan American Games so that she could prepare for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. She also apologized to all those who had bought tickets to see her compete. Rojas has said her goal is to jump 16 meters (52.49 feet). “I have two motivations in life: achieve 16 meters and doing better than the legend that is my coach, Iván Pedroso.”

Personal life

In addition to her athletic feats, Rojas is known for her charisma and enthusiasm. Her victory dances were especially popular. Rojas, who is a lesbian, has talked openly about her sexuality and is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights. In a 2020 interview with Carlos Arribas for El País newspaper, she said:

My orientation has always been important to me and to my career. Since I started sports, I have always tried to fight for the ideologies and rights of women and the LGBT community.