Venezuela competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's nineteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics.

With four medals, including a gold, the 2020 Games was Venezuela's best performance in its participation history. Triple jumper Yulimar Rojas broke the women's world record with a jump. Veteran freestyle BMX cyclist Daniel Dhers, who helped get the sport into the Olympic Games, took a silver medal in the event at its debut. Another two silver medals were won in weightlifting categories, by Julio Mayora and Keydomar Vallenilla; all Venezuela's weightlifters achieved top eight finishes.

Though road cyclist Orluis Aular led for much of his race, he had to retire shortly before the end. Venezuelan boxing and fencing under-performed, with 2016 boxing silver medalist Yoel Finol and 2012 fencing gold medalist Rubén Limardo both losing their first matches.

Administration In 2019, Venezuelan Olympic Committee (COV) president Eduardo Álvarez set the nation's 2020 Summer Olympics targets. They aimed to have between 60 and 70 athletes competing, and to win 20 Olympic diplomas (awarded to the top 8 in each event).

The COV also co-hosted the karate referee training course in 2019, in anticipation of the sport premiering at the 2020 Games and following new rules being implemented in both kata and kumite disciplines. In July 2020, the COV formed a working group to re-organize the Americas boxing qualifying event, which had been due to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, earlier that year but was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic event restrictions.

In December 2020, the COV held X Session, which "aims to reinforce Olympic values." The COV and Venezuelan Olympic Academy have held X Sessions in previous years, usually taking place over three days. The 2020 event was condensed to one day to limit social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was attended, either in-person or virtually, by delegates from around the world. The matters of Olympism, particularly anti-doping in sports, were discussed in presentations to spread sport education.

During the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the COV has suffered financially. The Venezuelan boxer Eldric Sella, who had asylum in Trinidad and Tobago, competed at the 2020 Games with the Refugee Olympic Team. He had been dropped from the Venezuelan team in 2014 due to lack of resources, and left the country in 2018. Despite not competing for Venezuela, and going out in his first match, his perseverance to make it to the Olympics while living as a refugee was said to be inspiring to his compatriots, many of whom are also refugees abroad.

Medalists

In terms of medals, the 2020 Games was Venezuela's best performance in its participation history, receiving one gold and three silver medals, as well as six diplomas. In Venezuela, controversy arose over statements made by the medalists in supervised calls to president Nicolás Maduro. Political scientists have noted that the Venezuelan government used Olympic success as a form of propaganda.

Venezuela's first medal of the Games was won by weightlifter Julio Mayora on 28 July, taking the silver medal in the men's 73 kg category and dedicating it to late president Hugo Chávez, who had been born on 28 July. Noticiero Digital reported that in the video featuring the dedication to Chávez, Venezuelan Youth and Sport Minister can be heard in the background instructing Mayora to say it. Mayora's silver is Venezuela's second weightlifting medal after Israel Rubio's bronze at Athens 2004. The Caracas Chronicles reported that Mayora, who still lives in Venezuela though trains in the Dominican Republic, told friends that the best part about winning the medal is that he can now claim a better house for his mother from the government.

Mayora was attacked on social media in Venezuela for the dedication. The next day, president Nicolás Maduro took to national television to defend Mayora as a patriot and say that the nation's sporting "generation of gold" started with Chávez. El Pitazo interviewed Venezuelan Olympic cyclist Daniel Dhers about the controversy, with Dhers saying that regardless of politics, everyone is at the Games for Venezuela. Prior to the controversy, Juan Guaidó had congratulated Mayora on the win. Caracas Chronicles condemned how quickly people turned from praising a medalist to hating him because of the video, while El País noted that outside of the Twitter vitriol Mayora's dedication was "generally tolerated and understood".

On 31 July, Keydomar Vallenilla took another weightlifting silver medal, in the men's 96 kg category, and on 1 August, Daniel Dhers won the men's BMX freestyle silver medal, in its Olympic debut. Later in the day, Yulimar Rojas won the gold medal in women's triple jump. She is Venezuela's first female Olympic gold medalist, and also Venezuela's first athletics gold and third gold medal overall. It is Venezuela's third medal in the triple jump, following Rojas' silver at Rio 2016 and Asnoldo Devonish's bronze at Helsinki 1952, which was also Venezuela's first-ever Olympic medal.

Each of the medalists was obliged to speak with and thank Maduro under supervision of Venezuelan officials shortly after their wins, with the calls (which were filmed) shared on official channels in Venezuela. In Rojas' call, Maduro called her "the queen of Tokyo".Julio Mayora: Keydomar Vallenilla: Daniel Dhers: Yulimar Rojas: He later shared a message on Twitter lauding the athlete: "warrior, you shine with your own light, you are a faithful reflection of the fighting spirit and greatness of the Venezuelan people." Guaidó also celebrated that she had literally gone further than anyone before. El Nacional noted that the athletes have faced criticism at home for praising Maduro in the calls. In an opinion column, it acknowledged the statements were "guided if not forced" and that the athletes would be concerned for family in Venezuela, but said that Krystsina Tsimanouskaya had more dignity in criticizing her nation.

Medal Name Sport Event Date Yulimar Rojas Athletics Women's triple jump Julio Mayora Weightlifting Men's 73 kg Keydomar Vallenilla Weightlifting Men's 96 kg Daniel Dhers Cycling Men's BMX freestyle

Opening ceremony Venezuela took part in the Parade of Nations, marching 160th in accordance with the Gojūon order, based on the names of countries in Japanese, with "Venezuela" rendered as "ベネズエラ". The delegation in the parade wore bright blue suits.

The flagbearers for Venezuela were chosen by popular vote, with one male and one female representative to be flagbearers: karateka Antonio Díaz and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas were selected. The voting program, called "Abanderado por el Pueblo" ("The People's Flagbearers"), was devised by the COV in May 2021. On 22 July 2021, the day before the opening ceremony, Rojas was still slated to be a flagbearer, but she did not appear at the ceremony. Judoka Karen León walked alongside Díaz at the opening ceremony, but did not carry the flag. Díaz was the only karateka flagbearer, and both he and Antonio Espinós, president of the World Karate Federation (WKF), felt proud to have a representative for the sport featured in the opening ceremony, with Espinós saying that the WKF "couldn't have asked for a better ambassador for karate".

Closing ceremony Venezuela also participated in the closing ceremony. As in the opening ceremony, they entered 160th, with Díaz as the flagbearer at this ceremony, too.

Competitors Forty-three Venezuelan athletes competed. After the Olympics, each was given a car by the Venezuelan government, presented at a celebration on 10 August 2021 when the delegation (excluding Rojas and Dhers) returned to Venezuela. After the athletes arrived at Maiquetía Airport they were paraded via open-top bus, decorated in the colors of the Venezuelan flag, to Miraflores Palace in Caracas.

SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 0 4 4Boxing 3 1 4Cycling 2 0 2Diving 1 0 1Fencing 2 0 2Golf 1 0 1Judo 0 3 3Karate 2 1 3Rowing 2 0 2Sailing 1 0 1Shooting 1 0 1Swimming 2 2 4Volleyball 12 0 12Weightlifting 2 2 4 Total 31 13 44

Athletics

Field Four women qualified to represent Venezuela at athletics events. The athletes achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying target or by world ranking.

AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionRobeilys PeinadoWomen's pole vault4.55=1 q4.50=8Yulimar RojasWomen's triple jump14.771 Q15.67 Ahymara EspinozaWomen's shot put17.1725Did not advanceRosa RodríguezWomen's hammer throw68.2322Did not advance

Women's pole vault

Robeilys Peinado qualified for Venezuela in the pole vault. She won the silver medal at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, and was set to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics but suffered an injury during practice jumps when her pole broke and she was unable to take part.

+ Qualification round Rank Group 4.25 4.40 4.55 Height Notes =1 A — o o 4.55

+ Final Rank 4.50 4.70 Height =8 xo xxx 4.50

At the 2020 Games, she took part in Group A in the qualification round on 2 August 2021, jumping , a distance matched but not exceeded by fourteen other athletes across both qualifying groups, and they all qualified. Peinado jumped the height without making any faults, qualifying joint first with six other athletes. In the final on 5 August, she jumped fourth in each round and cleared on her second jump. She then failed to clear at , placing joint eighth with four other athletes.

Women's triple jump

Yulimar Rojas represented Venezuela in the triple jump, after winning the silver medal at the 2016 Games and setting a new indoor world record in 2020. She is regarded as one of the best athletes in the world, and was favorite to win the gold medal. She told Sport that she had been visualizing winning gold since Rio 2016.

Rojas could also have qualified for the long jump event, but did not contest it, with her coach Iván Pedroso saying her focus remained on the triple jump; Rojas later said that she had wanted to compete in the long jump in Tokyo, but the schedule of events prevented it. She had previously said she wanted to compete at the Games alongside her sister, Yerilda Zapata, who represents Venezuela in discus throw.

+ Final Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 Result Notes 15.41 14.53 x 15.25 x 15.67 15.67 ,

She took part in Group A in the qualification round on 30 July. On her first attempt she jumped ; further than everyone else, she did not jump again and qualified for the finals in first. In the final held on 1 August, Rojas won the gold medal. She set a new Olympic record of with her first attempt. On her final attempt, she improved this to (5.86m hop, 3.82m skip, 5.99m jump), also breaking the world record, which had previously been held by Inessa Kravets since 1995 with .

Women's shot put No Venezuelan athlete registered a shot put above the Olympic qualifying distance of , but at the time of qualifying, Ahymara Espinoza was ranked 27 and so automatically gained a place at the Olympics. Espinoza had trained in Spain until she had to return to Venezuela to support her family financially, and later started a crowdfunding campaign to help her get to Tokyo.

In the women's shot put qualifying round held on 30 July at Japan National Stadium, athletes had to throw at least or be one of the 12 best throws (including tied for more than 12 athletes) to progress.

+ Qualification roundRankGroup123ResultNotes25B17.1716.7416.5017.17 Did not advance