The Venezuelan athlete specialized in triple jump managed to fly this Sunday and rise 15.67 meters, a mark that allowed her to break the world record and become the first female Olympic champion in the history of her country.
Before her, only three male athletes had achieved gold in an Olympic Games: the boxer Francisco Rodríguez in Mexico 1968, Arlindo Gouveia for taekwondo in Barcelona 1992 and Rubén Limardo, who in London 2012 prevailed in fencing.
Yulimar Rojas, gold medal for Venezuela (center);
Patricia Mamona, silver medal for Portugal (right), and Ana Peleteiro, bronze medal for Spain (left).
The three celebrate their achievements on the track during the women's triple jump final at the Tokyo Olympics Pool Photo via AP / Christian Petersen
"Wow, I am speechless.
I have no voice, I have no words to describe this feeling, this moment.
Olympic gold medal, Olympic record, world record.
And wow, a fantastic night, I feel in the clouds, "said Rojas during an interview broadcast by Telemundo Deportes after the competition.
“Actually, we were looking for it, we were trying, we knew we had that mark there on our legs to make today, tonight, and we were failing a bit in the technical area.
But
I think the last jump was a jump to give it everything and it was.
I just focused on doing my best, enjoying myself and well, it came out.
I'm very happy".
"I just have to live this experience that I thank God first," concluded the now queen of the triple jump, who is part of the Barcelona FC athletics team, and is openly lesbian and fighter for the rights of the LGBTQ community, which are not respected in their country of origin.
The charismatic athlete began her participation in the final this Sunday with a jump of 15.41 meters that left her just 2 centimeters from the Olympic record set by Francoise Mbango of Cameroon, in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
But the world's best 15.50 meter mark, set by Ukraine's Inessa Kravets in 1995, was her main goal.
"It's Yulimar against Yulimar," said the Telemundo Deportes narrator at the time of starting his competition.
Yulimar Rojas, from Venezuela, competes in the triple jump final this Sunday.
As soon as she finished, the surprise of the commentators was evident: "And she surpasses herself, incredible Yulimar Rojas, wake up Venezuela, wake up Caracas, Yulimar is the Olympic champion. Determination and pure sacrifice! Her emotion is latent and we feel it from the Olympic stadium to here ”.
"
She trains at 120%"
As soon as Rojas confirmed that his jump was valid, he exploded in tears.
He couldn't stop crying: he threw himself on the ground.
Then he got up, while shouting "Yesiiii!".
He saw his coach on the platform and began to sob again, while shouts of "Long live Venezuela!" Could be heard in the background.
It was her training partner, the Spanish Ana Peleteiro - who won the silver medal in this same competition - who convinced her to take a flag and take a walk on the track.
“Being able to train with her now, and yes, the best in history is the ostia (...)
She trains at 120% every day.
She got into her head to be the best and all the training sessions with Yuli are like that, ”she said in an interview that was done hours after the meeting.
The moment of the jump that gave the gold medal, and the Olympic and world record to Yulimar Rojas.
AP
Many people, inside and outside of Venezuela, saw and celebrated the competition with the same passion.
In networks there were many videos of Venezuelans from all over sharing the exciting moment, which was closely followed by his family in Caracas.