At the World Championships in Oregon on Monday, Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela won the triple jump competition for the third time in a row. With her winning 15.47 metres, two-time reigning champion Rojas set a record for the sixth-longest leap in history. Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica won silver with a distance of 14.89 metres, and American Tori Franklin won bronze (14.72).
Rojas had had a conservative first jump of 14.60 metres for her. After making some tweaks, she sailed out to 15.47 on her second attempt, breaking the world record. Following that, a 15.24, two fouls, and a 15.39 were scored, ensuring a convincing victory.
Yolimar Rojas, also known as Yulimar Rojas Rodrguez, was born on October 21, 1995. She is a Venezuelan athlete who presently owns the women’s triple jump world record with 15.74 metres (51 feet 7+12 inches). She is known as ‘la reina del triple salto’ or ‘queen of the triple jump’ and is the current Olympic champion as well as a three-time World World Champion (2017 London, 2019 Doha, and 2022 Eugene) and three-time World Indoor Champion (2016 Portland, 2018 Birmingham, and 2022 Belgrade). She has held the triple jump and long jump national records for Venezuela since 2014 and has consistently beaten them. She has been awarded the First Class of the ‘Venezuelan Order of José Félix Ribas.’
Raised in a deprived area of Venezuela, Rojas was successful in other sports as a teenager but struggled to practice due to lack of resources. Encouraged to move into athletics, she excelled in high jump and sprinting before developing an affinity for the triple jump. She moved to Guadalajara, Spain, in 2015 to continue her athletics training under coach Iván Pedroso, and became dominant in the event. After several years specialising only in the triple jump, she began seriously competing in the long jump again in 2021.
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