Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

first participated at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

since then.

has also participated in the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

since 1998. The

Venezuelan Olympic Committee Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in t ...

(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 The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

. Venezuelan athletes have won a total of nineteen medals, all at Summer Games, with

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

(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. In the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, 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 The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Japan, with some events taki ...

Rafael Vidal Rafael Antonio Vidal Castro (January 6, 1964 – February 12, 2005) was a Venezuelan competition swimmer, Olympic medalist and sports commentator. Life Vidal was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1964. At age 20, he became the first Venezuelan ...

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 The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, but at that time the sport only participated as an exhibition. That medal, along with the bronze medal won by

Adriana Carmona Adriana Carmona (born December 3, 1972 in Puerto La Cruz) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist. Olympic Games She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she received a bronze medal in the +67 kg cla ...

in the same sport, are counted as official by the Venezuelan Taekwondo Federation since 2018.

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.

Turin 2006

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

luge A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for ...

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. In these games, Venezuelan

Dalia Contreras Dalia María Contreras Rivero (born September 20, 1983) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in taekwondo. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing 8th in her weight class. ...

won the bronze medal in Taekwondo in the 49 kilograms category, after defeating Kenyan Mildred Alango 1–0.

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 Stefany Hernández (born 13 June 1991 at Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan racing cyclist who represents Venezuela in BMX. She represented Venezuela at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of ...

, 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 Julio Rubén Mayora Pernia (born 2 September 1996) is a Venezuelan weightlifter, Olympian, Pan American Champion and Pan American Games Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and the 67 kg and 73 kg categories starting ...

and

Keydomar Vallenilla Keydomar Giovanni Vallenilla Sánchez (born 8 October 1999) is a Venezuelan weightlifter. In 2021, he won the silver medal in the men's 96 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He won the gold medal in the men's 89kg event at the ...

in weightlifting and

Daniel Dhers Daniel Dhers (born March 25, 1985, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan professional BMX rider. He is currently sponsored by Red Bull, POC, DC Shoes, Specialized, Albe's Mailorder, Sony and Verizon. Dhers lived in Greenville, North Carolina, k ...

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

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by sport

List of medalists

Summer Olympics

Multiple medalists

Most successful Olympian progression

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

Notes

* Venezuela won two demonstration medals in taekwondo (one gold and one bronze) at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. As a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

, the medals are not recognized as Olympic medals by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

; 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.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Venezuela At The Olympics