The Olympic triple jump champion added a new world title to her huge record on Sunday March 20 at the Indoor Worlds in Belgrade. Yulimar Rojas even improved his world record by jumping to 15.74m. The Venezuelan reigns supreme and is aiming for 16 meters more than ever.
Olympic champion, double world champion and now triple indoor world champion… For five years, Yulimar Rojas crushes the triple jump. When it comes to seeking out the finest metal, adversity is resigned to seeing it take hold of it.
Illustration again on Sunday in Belgrade during the Indoor World Championships where the other finalists never had a say. On her first attempt, the Venezuelan stunned the contest with a leap to 15.19m, while Ukrainian Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Jamaican Kimberly Williams only made 14.74m and 14.62m on their best attempts. A huge chasm between the two athletes on the podium on one side and the boss on the other.
Once again unattainable in this final, Yulimar Rojas found herself facing her best opponent, namely herself. Was she going to break her own world record? She failed on her second, third and fourth jump. On her fifth attempt, she closed with a 15.36m. And finally, on her sixth and final jump, Rojas took off to land at 15.74m, a new world record.
” I was born to jump 16 meters »
The lanky champion was able to let her joy explode. Last August, in Tokyo (outdoors), she became Olympic champion by smashing the world record in 15.67m, 17cm further than the Ukrainian Inessa Kravets 26 years earlier. Seven months later, Yulimar Rojas further improved his own mark by 7cm thanks to a prodigious jump.
The 26-year-old Venezuelan is phenomenal. With her body cut out for the triple jump (1.92m for 72 kilos) and the confidence that inhabits her, she is evolving on another planet. The one who was named athlete of the year 2020 displayed a hardly believable relaxation when commenting on her new crazy performance:
” It was like living a dream for me today. I wanted to come here to have fun. I was in great shape and felt like I could do great things. I am very happy because I achieved everything I wanted and even more. The record could have happened at any time but it happened at the last try. It was like a leap for glory. »
And as in Tokyo, she recalled that she has a goal that no longer seems inaccessible, at least not when your name is Yulimar Rojas: jumping 16 meters. ” My motto is ”nothing is impossible”. I’m going to get there. I was born to jump 16 meters and that’s what I want to inspire others. I know I have 16 meters in my legs and that’s my goal. Difficult to question her word as the champion masters her subject. And the question may not be whether Yulimar Rojas can do it… but rather when.