Yulimar Rojas

Yulimar Rojas was born in Caracas and grew up in a barrio, one of six siblings in a family where a second pair of training shoes was a luxury they could not always afford. She came of age as Venezuela's economy collapsed into one of the worst crises in the region's modern history, with shortages of food and basic goods affecting most of the population around her.

She was first spotted as a high jumper, tall and long-limbed, before a coach suggested she try the triple jump, a discipline that combines a sprinter's speed with a high jumper's spring. She adapted quickly, moving to Cuba for a period to train with better facilities and coaching than were available at home, and by her early twenties was competing for global titles.

She won her first world title in 2017 and kept winning almost everything after that, taking Olympic gold at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, the first Olympic gold medal by a Venezuelan woman in any sport. In 2022 she broke the triple jump world record with a leap of 15.74 metres, surpassing a mark that had stood since 1995, the year she was born.

Known in Venezuela as the queen of the triple jump, she has used her earnings to support her family and set up a foundation to help young athletes from backgrounds like hers get access to training and equipment she once had to do without.