Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas tears Achilles tendon and will miss Paris Games
FILE - Yulimar Rojas, of Venezuela, reacts after winning the Women’s triple jump final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 25, 2023. Rojas tore her left Achilles tendon and said on April 12, 2024 that she will miss the Paris Games. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Olympic triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas tore her left Achilles tendon and said Friday she will miss this year’s Paris Games.
The 28-year-old Venezuelan said on her Instagram account that she was injured while training in Spain. She said she had surgery in Madrid on Thursday.
“My heart is broken, and I want to apologize for not been able to represent you (Venezuelans) in Paris 2024,” said Rojas, the world record holder in the event.
Rojas last competed in September when she won the Diamond League. She missed the world indoor championships in Scotland in March.
“I wanted to defend my Olympic title and I was looking forward to it, but I must stop now, understand this, recover and return at full strength to keep flying together,” Rojas said.
Rojas set the world record at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with a jump of 15.67 meters and increased that to 15.74 a year later in an indoor arena in Serbia. Rojas won a bronze medal in the triple jump at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Rojas is also a four-time world champion, winning the triple jump in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023, as well as a three-time world indoor champion.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports