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 code | VEN |
| NOC | Venezuelan Olympic Committee |
| Website | cov |
| Medals Ranked 75th |
|
| 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
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
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
Venezuela participated in the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics thanks to Werner Hoeger in the luge specialty.
Beijing 2008
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
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
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
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
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
Medals by Summer Games
| 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 | future event | |||||
| 2028 Los Angeles | ||||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total | 3 | 7 | 9 | 19 | 75 | |
Medals by Winter Games
| 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 Milan–Cortina | future event | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Medals by Summer Sport
| 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
| 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
Summer Olympics
Multiple medalists
| Athlete | Sport | Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yulimar Rojas | Athletics | 2016, 2020 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Most successful Olympian progression
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
- A Venezuela won two demonstration medals in taekwondo (one gold and one bronze) at the 1992 Summer Olympics. As a demonstration sport, the medals are not recognized as Olympic medals by the International Olympic Committee; the Venezuelan Taekwondo Federation says that the 1992 medals are recognized and lists them among the nation's taekwondo medals, but all other countries and athletes who received medals in the sport in 1992 do not recognize their own medals, and do not count them toward the all-time total of medals of their respective countries. For accuracy and consistency, those of Venezuela are not counted.[6][7][8]
References
- 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.
- "COI reconoce medallas olímpicas venezolanas de Barcelona 1992". El Nacional. 2018.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "Arlindo I. Gouveia Colina". Olympics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- "Adriana Carmona Gutiérrez". Olympics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- "COI reconoce medallas olímpicas venezolanas de Barcelona 1992". ElNacional. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
See also
- List of flag bearers for Venezuela at the Olympics
- Category:Olympic competitors for Venezuela
- Venezuela at the Paralympics
- Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics
External links
- "Venezuela". International Olympic Committee.
- "Venezuela". Olympedia.com.
- "Olympic Analytics/VEN". olympanalyt.com.