Jessica Brizeida López Arocha (born January 22, 1986) is a Venezuelan artistic gymnast who competes for the Venezuela national team. She competed at the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, where she qualified to the uneven bars final, becoming the first Venezuelan gymnast to qualify for an individual apparatus final, where she placed sixth.

Career

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

gymnastics, Lopez competed for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. She qualified to compete as an individual at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

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. In 2009, she competed at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In March 2010, she won the bronze medal at the

American Cup The American Football Association Challenge Cup (also known as the American Association Cup or simply American Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1884, and organised by t ...

. At the end of March, she won the gold medal in the all around, uneven bars, and floor exercise at the

South American Games The South American Games (also known as ODESUR Games; Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos''), formerly the Southern Cross Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Cruz del Sur'') is a regional multi-sport event held between nat ...

. She won medals in Moscow, Porto, and Ghent, and at the Glasgow World Cup. In September, she went to compete at the Pre-Panamerican Games, where she won two silver medals (uneven bars and balance beam) and one bronze medal (all around). In October, she competed at the 2010 World Championships, where she qualified for the all-around finals and finished in the tenth place, the best showing ever for a Venezuelan gymnast. Lopez qualified to compete as an individual at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She finished 18th in the individual all around final. She carried the Venezuelan flag in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. At the 2014 World Championships, she did not qualify to any individual event finals, but finished eighth in the all around, her highest worlds finish. Afterwards she competed at the Central American and Caribbean Games, placing first all around, beam and bars. She competed at the Stuttgart World Cup a few weeks later and won silver in the all around. She competed at the 2015 American Cup and placed 4th, which secured her winning the FIG World Cup series. She qualified to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished seventh in the all around and sixth on uneven bars.

References

External links

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Biography at the University of Denver
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Jessica 1986 births Living people Denver Pioneers women's gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2007 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2015 Pan American Games Olympic gymnasts for Venezuela Pan American Games silver medalists for Venezuela Sportspeople from Caracas Venezuelan female artistic gymnasts Pan American Games silver medalists in gymnastics Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Venezuela Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Venezuela Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Venezuela Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games South American Games gold medalists for Venezuela South American Games bronze medalists for Venezuela South American Games medalists in gymnastics Competitors at the 2010 South American Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century Venezuelan sportswomen