Updated:08/02/2021 05:43h
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She could have been a volleyball player or a high jumper, but Yulimar Rojas, the girl who did not stop still in the Pozuelos neighborhood, on the outskirts of cross port (Anzoátegui, Venezuela), is since yesterday the new triple jump world record holder after going up to 15.67 meters to also win the Olympic gold. It cost him, but he finally caught up with Ivessa Kravets, the owner of one of those historic marks that seem unattainable. But for Rojas there is nothing unattainable in his life. If he achieved glory after growing up in a family with few resources, how could he not be able to with a brand that had been immovable for 26 years in the world ranking …
His mother Yuleisi Roríguez explained years ago in an interview that Yulimar grew up “in a humble environment, with many shortcomings. In a humble little ranch we all lived and there he got up and up ». In Venezuela, a ranch is a precarious home of metal roofs and located in the poorest areas of the towns. Yulimar grew up there, always restless and always happy despite financial straits. Although she was born in Caracas, she grew up in Puerto la Cruz due to work with her stepfather, who remembered that little Yulimar liked all sports, until she noticed volleyball. She was 13 years old and Yulimar fell in love with the sport when she saw the Venezuelan men’s and women’s teams qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. But it was Jesús Velásquez, athletics coach, who noticed Yulimar’s talent and convinced him that his was athletics, although his first contact was in high jump, where he jumped 1.89. He even won gold at the 2014 South American Games, but that year he decided with Velásquez to change to triple. “They said we were crazy,” recalls the technician.
Madness was good. We did height, 100 meters, length, triple and we stayed with the latter. I fell madly in love with the triple. It has been the best decision of my life, “Rojas said some time ago.
The last and decisive step remained for this 1.93-tall Velezolana to evolve to be the best. “I wanted to train with Iván Pedroso and I contacted him on Facebook, it was all audacious, because I thought that I didn’t even know who I was, but I did it,” recalls Rojas. Pedroso answered and proposed in 2015 to travel to Spain, to Guadalajara, where he had established his training center. And in 2016, Yulimar Rojas was already there, ready to improve in all aspects. She was perfectly integrated into Team Pedroso, of which she is a fundamental piece because of her joy, and five years later, Rojas is Olympic champion and world record holder after jumping 15.67 and erasing Inessa Kravets from the lists.
The Ukrainian was an exceptional jumper, but her records could never escape the shadow of doping, as Kravets was punished twice, three months in 1993 and two years in 2000 for taking anabolics. But in between, that jump in 1995 in Stockholm remained to be remembered, where he flew up to 15.50 meters, a mark that he was always convinced he could overcome, but he never succeeded. In his record, the Atlanta’96 Olympic gold appears. He retired in 2004, after winning silver in the Indoor World Championship.
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