Venezuela at the Olympics

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

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.

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 33 0 0 0 0
2028 Los Angeles future event
2032 Brisbane
Total 3 7 9 19 82

Medals by Summer Youth Olympics

Games Athletes  Gold  Silver  Bronze Total Rank
2010 Singapore 63 0 2 3 5 63
2014 Nanjing 59 0 6 2 8 53
2018 Buenos Aires 53 2 0 0 2 39
Total 2 8 5 15 54

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 Milano Cortina future event
2030 French Alps
2034 Salt Lake City
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

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

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

  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