Euphoria in Venezuela with the Olympic gold of Yulimar Rojas

Venezuela woke up this Sunday to an unusually unanimous outlook of happiness and fulfillment.

Faced with the usual political controversies and pessimism, the athlete Yulimar Rojas has offered the country a point of consensus with her gold medal and her triple jump world record at the Olympic Games.

The jubilation has been experienced especially in her home in the State of Anzoátegui, but also in social networks, where Venezuelans from inside and outside the country have been unanimous in their praise of the one who was named the best female athlete of 2020 by the International Federation of Athletics.

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Rojas's feat was accomplished hours after the silver medals achieved by BMX cyclist Daniel Dhers and weightlifter Keydomar Vallenilla, and gave shape to a state of totalizing euphoria, in which the diaspora has actively participated. it has made vindicate the creed of love for the national even among the most skeptical, cynical or disappointed hearts.

Before them, the weightlifter Julio Mayora had dedicated his silver medal obtained in weightlifting to the memory of Commander Hugo Chávez. Mayora's statements angered many Twitter users, but were generally tolerated and understood by the majority of public opinion, and have not overshadowed the current sense of national achievement. Reflections on the importance of not politicizing the sporting event and highlighting the personal achievement of the competitors have also abounded.

Led by Rojas, Venezuelan athletes are on their way to achieving the best Olympic performance in their history in a country that is immersed in its most serious political, economic and social crisis in almost a hundred years. The 'cheers' dedicated to them by the fans, attentive these days to their athletes in Tokyo, have for the moment evaporated the usual sad and moody tone of the local debate, and have been vindicated by literally the entire arc of public opinion.

In the advance of the praise for Yulimar Rojas there was, of course, the Government of Nicolás Maduro that promoted the label # GeneraciónDeOroInvencible, and that claimed as its own the achievements of the Venezuelan Olympic delegation in many of the contents of the Venezuelan State Television. Maduro, who has personally spoken with each of the athletes who have obtained medals to congratulate them, posted on his Twitter account: “tremendous victory for Yulimar Rojas! Gold Medal, World and Olympic Record for you, warrior, you shine with your own light, you are a faithful reflection of the combative spirit and greatness of the Venezuelan people ”.

Also the first lady, Cilia Flores, and other important leaders of Chavismo, such as Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez and Diosdado Cabello, expressed their happiness and admiration for what Rojas achieved. The achievements of the Venezuelan Olympic delegation in the Tokyo 2021 Games, however, completely contradict the enormous insufficiencies that some Venezuelan athletes have endured to fulfill their commitments in the fair, and even the lag of the Venezuelan Olympism in the Pan-American and Latin American panorama in recent time.

Chavismo has made a huge investment in the development of Olympic sport at this time with the support of Cuban technicians and athletes, which had not yet resulted in particularly appreciable results.

Cuban athlete Iván Pedroso, a milestone in Olympic sport in his country, is Rojas' teacher and coach in Spain, where he currently trains and where he consolidated his stardom after starting his Olympic cycle in Venezuela.

Yulimar Rojas' mother, Yulecsi Rodriguez, celebrates her daughter's victory in Barcelona, ​​Anzoátegui, this Sunday.FEDERICO PARRA / AFP

Some digital media have circulated videos that capture the moment in which Rojas' family witnesses the athlete's feat in the eastern city of Barcelona and offer a contagious moment of delirious happiness with friends and neighbors. “We knew we were going to make it. Thank you, daughter, thank you, ”declared Pedro Zapata, Rojas's father, visibly moved.

The opposition leader Juan Guaidó also expressed his joy: “Today Yulimar Rojas has gone further than ANYONE: a gold medal with a world record. Step by step he advanced with perseverance, effort and confidence. Thank you Yulimar for this feat! You unite us and make all Venezuelans happy. " “Incredible, what a great Yulimar! Our homeland Venezuela vibrates with your triumph, your world record and your gold medal! Long live Venezuela today and always! Now is when ”, expressed in turn the opposition Henrique Capriles Radonski.

The karate fighter Antonio Díaz and the pole vaulter Robeylis Peinado are the two athletes in whom the country hopes to obtain some additional medal at the Tokyo Games.

This is the fourth gold medal that Venezuela has achieved in the Olympic Games.

With seven silver and ten bronze, the current 21 medals place it in sixth place among Latin American nations in the historical medals table of the games, behind Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia.

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