The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Venezuela

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This page contains a list of the greatest Venezuelan Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 25 of which were born in Venezuela. This makes Venezuela the birth place of the 73rd most number of Athletes behind Mongolia, and Peru.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Venezuelan Athletes of all time. This list of famous Venezuelan Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Venezuelan Athletes.

Photo of Yulimar Rojas

1. Yulimar Rojas (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 50.61, Yulimar Rojas is the most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages on wikipedia.

Yulimar Rojas Rodríguez (also known as Yolimar Rojas; born 21 October 1995) is a Venezuelan athlete who holds the world record for women's triple jump, at 15.74 m (51 ft 7+1⁄2 in). She is the 2020 Olympic champion, a four-time World Champion (2017 London, 2019 Doha, 2022 Eugene and 2023 Budapest), and three-time World Indoor Champion (2016 Portland, 2018 Birmingham and 2022 Belgrade); she is nicknamed la reina del triple salto – queen of the triple jump. Since 2014 she has held, and continued to beat, Venezuelan national records in triple jump and long jump. She is a recipient of the Venezuelan Order of José Félix Ribas – First Class. Raised in a deprived area of Venezuela, Rojas was successful in other sports as a teenager but struggled to practice due to lack of resources. Encouraged to move into athletics, she excelled in high jump and sprinting before developing an affinity for the triple jump. She moved to Guadalajara, Spain, in 2015 to continue her athletics training under coach Iván Pedroso, and became dominant in the event. After several years specialising only in the triple jump, she began seriously competing in the long jump again in 2021.

Photo of Félix Hernández

2. Félix Hernández (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 41.21, Félix Hernández is the 2nd most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Félix Abraham Hernández García (born April 8, 1986), nicknamed "King Félix", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2005 through 2019. Hernández led the major leagues in wins in 2009, led the American League in earned run average in 2010 and 2014, and won the AL Cy Young Award in 2010. He is a six-time American League All-Star. On August 15, 2012, Hernández threw the 23rd perfect game in MLB history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays at Safeco Field by a 1-0 score. Hernández's perfect game was also the first perfect game in Seattle Mariners franchise history. On April 23, 2016, Hernández claimed the record for most strikeouts by a Mariners pitcher when he struck out Rafael Ortega of the Los Angeles Angels for his 2,163rd strikeout. The previous Mariners record of 2,162 strikeouts had been held by Randy Johnson. Hernández's 146th win, which occurred on May 9, gave him the club record in that category as well. For a decade, Hernández was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He was also a fan favorite in Seattle. Known for his durability, Hernández started 30 or more games in each of 10 consecutive seasons. Beginning at age 30, he experienced a series of injuries, a decrease in fastball velocity, and an increase in earned run average. After leaving the Mariners in 2019, Hernández signed with the Atlanta Braves and then with the Baltimore Orioles; however, he did not pitch in the major leagues again. Hernández appeared on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2024 and received 20.6 percent of the votes.

Photo of Robeilys Peinado

3. Robeilys Peinado (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 36.23, Robeilys Peinado is the 3rd most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Robeilys Mariley Peinado Méndez (born 26 November 1997) is a Venezuelan athlete whose specialty is pole vaulting. She won the bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships in London. In addition, she won multiple medals in several age categories. Peinado started off as a gymnast but switched to pole vault aged 12 as she was getting too tall for the sport. Her personal best in the event is 4.70 metres set in Cochabamba in 2018. This is the current national record.

Photo of Daniel Dhers

4. Daniel Dhers (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 36.06, Daniel Dhers is the 4th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 11 different languages.

Daniel Dhers (born March 25, 1985, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan professional BMX rider. He is currently sponsored by Red Bull, POC, DC Shoes, Specialized, Albe's Mailorder, Sony and Verizon. Dhers lived in Greenville, North Carolina, known as Protown USA because of the concentration of BMX riders that live there, including Dave Mirra. Dhers in 2013 opened in Holly Springs, North Carolina a public mountain biking, BMX, and skateboarding park, the Daniel Dhers Action Sports Complex.

Photo of Adriana Carmona

5. Adriana Carmona (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 36.03, Adriana Carmona is the 5th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Adriana Carmona (born December 3, 1972, in Puerto La Cruz) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist.

Photo of Dalia Contreras

6. Dalia Contreras (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 35.42, Dalia Contreras is the 6th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Dalia María Contreras Rivero (born September 20, 1983) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner. She won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in taekwondo. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing 8th in her weight class. She won a Silver Medal at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo In the 2002 South American Games in Brazil she finished in the second place in her category (Finweight –47 kg), but the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR) gave only gold medals in that category. Finally, in the 2006 South American Games in Buenos Aires, she won the gold medal. Notwithstanding, that year ODESUR gave the silver and bronze medals

Photo of Koki Ogawa

7. Koki Ogawa (b. )

With an HPI of 34.73, Koki Ogawa is the 7th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Koki Ogawa may refer to: Koki Ogawa (actor) (小川 光樹, born 1998), Japanese actor Koki Ogawa (footballer) (小川 航基, born 1997), Japanese footballer

Photo of Julio Mayora

8. Julio Mayora (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 33.61, Julio Mayora is the 8th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Julio Rubén Mayora Pernia (born 2 September 1996) is a Venezuelan weightlifter, Olympian, Pan American Champion and Pan American Games Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and the 67 kg and 73 kg categories starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.

Photo of Rosa Rodríguez

9. Rosa Rodríguez (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 32.86, Rosa Rodríguez is the 9th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

Rosa Andreína Rodríguez Pargas (born 2 July 1986 in Acarigua, Portuguesa) is a Venezuelan hammer thrower. She is the Venezuelan record holder for the event with her personal best of 72.83 metres, set in May 2012, which she improved to 73.64 in 2013. Rodríguez represented Venezuela at the World Championships in Athletics in 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2015. A former South American hammer champion at youth and junior levels, she won her first major medal at the South American Championships in 2005. She is a two-time Ibero-American gold medallist (2008, 2012) and two-time runner-up at the Central American and Caribbean Championships (2009, 2011). She competed at the 2011 Pan American Games and has also won medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games and Military World Games.

Photo of Keydomar Vallenilla

10. Keydomar Vallenilla (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 32.56, Keydomar Vallenilla is the 10th most famous Venezuelan Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Keydomar Giovanni Vallenilla Sánchez (born 8 October 1999) is a Venezuelan weightlifter. In 2021, he won the silver medal in the men's 96 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. He won the gold medal in the men's 89 kg event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia.

People

Pantheon has 25 people classified as Venezuelan athletes born between 1973 and 2001. Of these 25, 25 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Venezuelan athletes include Yulimar Rojas, Félix Hernández, and Robeilys Peinado. As of April 2024, 21 new Venezuelan athletes have been added to Pantheon including Daniel Dhers, Adriana Carmona, and Koki Ogawa.

Living Venezuelan Athletes

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Newly Added Venezuelan Athletes (2024)

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