Venezuela at the Olympics

Venezuela first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then. Venezuela has also participated in the Winter Olympic Games since 1998. The Venezuelan Olympic Committee (COV) was created in 1935.

Venezuela at the
Olympics
IOC codeVEN
NOCVenezuelan Olympic Committee
Websitecov.com.ve (in Spanish)
Medals
Ranked 82nd
Gold
3
Silver
7
Bronze
9
Total
19
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

The first Venezuelan athlete to participate in the Olympic Games was cyclist Julio César León in London 1948. In 1968 Francisco Rodríguez earned the first gold medal. The first Venezuelan to participate in the Winter Olympic Games was Iginia Boccalandro, in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Venezuelan athletes have won a total of nineteen medals, all at Summer Games, with boxing (six medals; one gold, three silver, two bronze) being the most successful sport. The most successful Olympian is Yulimar Rojas, Venezuela's only multi-medalist in a regular Games, with one gold and one silver in women's triple jump.

History

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The first Venezuelan athlete to participate in the Olympic Games was Trujillo cyclist Julio César León in London 1948.[1]

In the 1952 Summer Olympics, Asnoldo Devonish earned a bronze medal which became the first Olympic medal in the country's sports history. In 1968 Francisco Rodríguez earned the first gold medal; obtaining silver and bronze medals in various games until 1984. The first Venezuelan to participate in the Winter Olympic Games was Iginia Boccalandro in Nagano 1998. Rafael Vidal was bronze medalist in the 200 m butterfly in swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Arlindo Gouveia won a gold medal in taekwondo in Barcelona 1992, but at that time the sport only participated as an exhibition. That medal, along with the bronze medal won by Adriana Carmona in the same sport, are counted as official by the Venezuelan Taekwondo Federation since 2018.[2]

Athens 2004

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Venezuela participated in the 2004 Athens Games with 48 athletes, winning two bronze medals with Adriana Carmona and Israel Rubio in taekwondo and weightlifting.[3]

Turin 2006

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Venezuela participated in the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics thanks to Werner Hoeger in the luge specialty.

Beijing 2008

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In the 2008 Beijing Games, Venezuela became the only country (only behind the host China) to double the number of athletes qualified with respect to the previous games, going from 48 athletes in Athens 2004 to 108 athletes in 2008, making it the delegation with the greatest progress with respect to the last games. For this occasion, Venezuela qualified for the first time 3 team sports, men's and women's volleyball and the women's softball team. Previously, only in 1980 in Moscow (soccer) and in Barcelona 1992 (basketball) had Venezuela been able to qualify team sports.[4] In these games, Venezuelan Dalia Contreras won the bronze medal in Taekwondo in the 49 kilograms category, after defeating Kenyan Mildred Alango 1–0.[5]

London 2012

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Fencer Rubén Limardo wins the third gold medal for the nation. Limardo also becomes the first Latin American to win a gold medal in fencing since 1904, over 100 years ago.

Sochi 2014

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Venezuela achieves its 4th participation in the 2004 Winter Olympic Games thanks to the athlete Antonio Pardo Andretta in the alpine skiing specialty.

Río 2016

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In these Olympic Games, Venezuela almost achieved a number of athletes almost equal to that of Beijing 2008, and even achieved a better record of medals than in those Olympic Games, with a total of three medals in the categories of boxing, cycling and athletics by the Venezuelan representatives: Yoel Finol, Yulimar Rojas and Stefany Hernández, thus completing their participation in these Olympic Games with one bronze medal and two silver medals.

Tokyo 2020

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In these Olympic Games, Venezuela competes with 44 athletes being its smallest delegation since 1988, obtaining 4 medals; 3 silver medals won by Julio Mayora and Keydomar Vallenilla in weightlifting and Daniel Dhers in BMX freestyle and a gold by Yulimar Rojas in triple jump, who broke the world and Olympic record in the history of this category of athletics in the Olympic Games, with a mark of 15. 67 meters, in addition to becoming the first woman to receive a gold medal in the history of the Olympic Games for Venezuela.

Medal tables

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Medals by Summer Games

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Games Athletes   Gold   Silver   Bronze Total Rank
  1896 Athens did not participate
  1900 Paris
  1904 St. Louis
  1908 London
  1912 Stockholm
  1920 Antwerp
  1924 Paris
  1928 Amsterdam
  1932 Los Angeles
  1936 Berlin
  1948 London 1 0 0 0 0
  1952 Helsinki 38 0 0 1 1 43
  1956 Melbourne 19 0 0 0 0
  1960 Rome 17 0 0 1 1 44
  1964 Tokyo 16 0 0 0 0
  1968 Mexico City 36 1 0 0 1 30
  1972 Munich 26 0 0 0 0
  1976 Montreal 36 0 1 0 1 35
  1980 Moscow 48 0 1 0 1 33
  1984 Los Angeles 26 0 0 3 3 41
  1988 Seoul 18 0 0 0 0
  1992 Barcelona 36 0 0 0 0[A]
  1996 Atlanta 39 0 0 0 0
  2000 Sydney 51 0 0 0 0
  2004 Athens 48 0 0 2 2 68
  2008 Beijing 110 0 0 1 1 86
  2012 London 69 1 0 0 1 50
  2016 Rio de Janeiro 87 0 2 1 3 65
  2020 Tokyo 44 1 3 0 4 46
  2024 Paris 33 0 0 0 0
  2028 Los Angeles future event
  2032 Brisbane
Total 3 7 9 19 82

Medals by Winter Games

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Games Athletes   Gold   Silver   Bronze Total Rank
  1924 Chamonix did not participate
  1928 St. Moritz
  1932 Lake Placid
  1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
  1948 St. Moritz
  1952 Oslo
  1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo
  1960 Squaw Valley
  1964 Innsbruck
  1968 Grenoble
  1972 Sapporo
  1976 Innsbruck
  1980 Lake Placid
  1984 Sarajevo
  1988 Calgary
  1992 Albertville
  1994 Lillehammer
  1998 Nagano 1 0 0 0 0
  2002 Salt Lake City 4 0 0 0 0
  2006 Turin 1 0 0 0 0
  2010 Vancouver did not participate
  2014 Sochi 1 0 0 0 0
  2018 Pyeongchang did not participate
  2022 Beijing
  2026 Milano Cortina future event
  2030 French Alps
  2034 Salt Lake City
Total 0 0 0 0

Medals by Summer Sport

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Sports   Gold   Silver   Bronze Total Rank
  Boxing 1 3 2 6 33
  Athletics 1 1 1 3 62
  Fencing 1 0 0 1 27
  Weightlifting 0 2 1 3 50
  Cycling 0 1 1 2 37
  Taekwondo 0 0 2 2 35
  Shooting 0 0 1 1 68
  Swimming 0 0 1 1 56
Total 3 7 9 19 75

Medals by Gender

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Gender   Gold   Silver   Bronze Total
Men 2 6 6 14
Women 1 1 3 5
Mixed 0 0 0 0
Total 3 7 9 19

List of medalists

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Summer Olympics

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Medal Name Games Sport Event
  Bronze Asnoldo Devonish   1952 Helsinki   Athletics Men's triple jump
  Bronze Enrico Forcella   1960 Rome   Shooting Men's 50-metre rifle prone
  Gold Francisco Rodríguez   1968 Mexico City   Boxing Men's light flyweight
  Silver Pedro Gamarro   1976 Montreal   Boxing Men's welterweight
  Silver Bernardo Piñango   1980 Moscow   Boxing Men's bantamweight
  Bronze Marcelino Bolívar   1984 Los Angeles   Boxing Men's light flyweight
  Bronze Omar Catari   1984 Los Angeles   Boxing Men's featherweight
  Bronze Rafael Vidal   1984 Los Angeles   Swimming Men's 200-metre butterfly
  Bronze Adriana Carmona   2004 Athens   Taekwondo Women's +67 kg
  Bronze Israel Jose Rubio   2004 Athens   Weightlifting Men's 62 kg
  Bronze Dalia Contreras   2008 Beijing   Taekwondo Women's 49 kg
  Gold Rubén Limardo   2012 London   Fencing Men's épée
  Silver Yulimar Rojas   2016 Rio de Janeiro   Athletics Women's triple jump
  Silver Yoel Finol   2016 Rio de Janeiro   Boxing Men's flyweight
  Bronze Stefany Hernández   2016 Rio de Janeiro   Cycling Women's BMX
  Gold Yulimar Rojas   2020 Tokyo   Athletics Women's triple jump
  Silver Julio Mayora   2020 Tokyo   Weightlifting Men's 73 kg
  Silver Keydomar Vallenilla   2020 Tokyo   Weightlifting Men's 96 kg
  Silver Daniel Dhers   2020 Tokyo   Cycling Men's BMX freestyle

Multiple medalists

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Athlete Sport Games Gold Silver Bronze Total
Yulimar Rojas   Athletics 2016, 2020 1 1 0 2

Most successful Olympian progression

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This table shows how the designation of most successful Venezuelan Olympian has progressed over time.

Athlete Sport Date Gender       Total
Asnoldo Devonish   Athletics 23 July 1952 M 0 0 1 1
Enrico Forcella   Shooting 1960 M 0 0 1 1
Francisco Rodríguez   Boxing October 1968 M 1 0 0 1
Rubén Limardo   Fencing 2012 M 1 0 0 1
Yulimar Rojas   Athletics 1 August 2021 F 1 1 0 2

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Press Dpto., British Embassy in Caracas. "Embassy invites first Venezuelan Olympian to return to London". news. Press Dpto. British Embassy in Caracas. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  2. ^ "COI reconoce medallas olímpicas venezolanas de Barcelona 1992". El Nacional. 2018.
  3. ^ "Confirmado bronce para Israel Rubio, primera medalla olímpica para Venezuela en 20 años". rnv.gob.ve. Radio Nacional de Venezuela. 22 August 2004. Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Venezuela cuenta con 109 atletas para Beijing 2008". rnv.gob.ve. Radio Nacional de Venezuela. 20 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 February 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Taekwondista venezolana Dalia Contreras gana medalla de bronce en Beijing". abn.info.ve. ABN. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Arlindo I. Gouveia Colina". Olympics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Adriana Carmona Gutiérrez". Olympics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  8. ^ "COI reconoce medallas olímpicas venezolanas de Barcelona 1992". ElNacional. Retrieved 9 August 2021.

See also

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