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.^[34]

At the 2020 Games, she took part in Group A in the qualification round on 2 August 2021, jumping 4.55 m (14 ft 11 in), 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.^[35][36][37] In the final on 5 August, she jumped fourth in each round and cleared 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in) on her second jump. She then failed to clear at 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in), placing joint eighth with four other athletes.^[38]

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.^[39] She told Sport that she had been visualizing winning gold since Rio 2016.^[40]

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;^[41] Rojas later said that she had wanted to compete in the long jump in Tokyo, but the schedule of events prevented it.^[40] She had previously said she wanted to compete at the Games alongside her sister, Yerilda Zapata, who represents Venezuela in discus throw.^[42]

More information Rank, Result ...

Final

Rank	1	2	3	4	5	6	Result	Notes
	15.41	14.53	x	15.25	x	15.67	15.67	WR, OR

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She took part in Group A in the qualification round on 30 July. On her first attempt she jumped 14.77 m (48 ft 5+1⁄4 in); further than everyone else, she did not jump again and qualified for the finals in first.^[43] In the final held on 1 August, Rojas won the gold medal. She set a new Olympic record of 15.41 m (50 ft 6+1⁄2 in) with her first attempt. On her final attempt, she improved this to 15.67 m (51 ft 4+3⁄4 in) (5.86 m hop, 3.82 m skip, 5.99 m jump), also breaking the world record, which had previously been held by Inessa Kravets since 1995 with 15.50 m (50 ft 10 in).^[44][45][21]

Women's shot put

No Venezuelan athlete registered a shot put above the Olympic qualifying distance of 18.50 m (60 ft 8+1⁄4 in), but at the time of qualifying, Ahymara Espinoza was ranked 27 and so automatically gained a place at the Olympics.^[46] 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.^[47]

In the women's shot put qualifying round held on 30 July at Japan National Stadium, athletes had to throw at least 18.80 m (61 ft 8 in) or be one of the 12 best throws (including tied for more than 12 athletes) to progress.^[48]

Ahymara Espinoza competed in qualifying group B, placing 12 in the group and 25 overall with a best throw of 17.17 m (56 ft 3+3⁄4 in),^[49] a worse performance than her Rio 2016 appearance. In 2021, she had previously thrown over 18 metres, though her best throw (Venezuela's national record) of 18.19 m (59 ft 8 in) would not have seen her advance.^[46] Despite not making it to the final, she told media she was happy to have been able to compete at the Olympics.^[47]

Women's hammer throw

Rosa Rodríguez automatically qualified for the women's hammer throw at the Games, both being a top-ranked athlete and meeting the qualifying distance,^[50] and was considered a possible medal contender.^[51] In the event, held on 1 August,^[52] athletes had to reach 73.50 m (241 ft 1+1⁄2 in) or have one of the 12 furthest throws to progress from the qualifying round to the final.^[48][53]

Rodríguez threw thirteenth in group B, by random designation, in the qualifying round,^[54] only managing 68.23 m (223 ft 10 in) to come eleventh in the group and twenty-second overall.^[52]

Men's road race

Venezuela entered one rider, Orluis Aular, to compete in the men's Olympic road race, by virtue of his top 50 national finish (for men) in the UCI World Ranking.^[73][74] The race took place on 24 July 2021.^[75] Aular lives and trains in Spain, and was also the only representative for his road race team, Caja Rural.^[76]

The men's race started at Musashinonomori Park in Chōfu, western Tokyo, and finished at the Fuji Speedway circuit in the Shizuoka Prefecture. The race was 234 kilometres (145 mi) long with a total elevation gain of 4,865 metres (15,961 ft). The conditions were 30 °C (86 °F) and overcast.^[75] The course first passed through the mostly flat outskirts of Tokyo's metropolitan area before a gradual climb towards the foot of the climb to Doushi Road. After 80 kilometres (50 mi) the cyclists topped out at an altitude of 1,121 metres (3,678 ft) above sea level at Lake Yamanakako in Yamanashi, then crossed the Kagosaka Pass and began the descent. The race then headed towards the lower slopes of Mount Fuji, taking the Fuji Sanroku path before a long descent into Gotemba. Following the Fuji mountain pass, the riders headed towards the Fuji Speedway section, making two laps before reaching the foot of the Mikuni Pass for another climb and a return to Lake Yamanakako and the Kagosaka Pass before a final descent and a short hilly section towards the finish on the Fuji Speedway circuit.^[77][78]

As soon as the race started, a group of eight riders broke away from the peloton, including Aular. The break reached a maximum advantage of around 20 minutes before the peloton began its pursuit, but they were unsuccessful on several attempts. The break was reduced to five riders – Aular, Nicholas Dlamini, Polychronis Tzortzakis, Michael Kukrle, and Juraj Sagan – after the first climb, ahead of the peloton by around 16 minutes. The break's lead gradually decreased as the climb went on, reaching the top of Fuji Sanroku with a lead of almost six minutes. This had dwindled to around four minutes as the leading group reached Fuji Speedway. During the speedway run, the peloton launched more chases of the lead group, which began to splinter as Sagan and Dlamini couldn't continue with the quick pace. The rest of the lead group was slowly consumed back into a much-decreased peloton during the second speedway pass, with Aular and Kukrle the last to be caught just as the group headed to Mikuni Pass.^{[79][80][81][82][83]}

Aular was one of 41 cyclists who did not finish the course;^[75] he had headed the race in the leading group from the start for around 180 kilometres (110 mi),^[82] but had to withdraw due to exhaustion at 191 kilometres (119 mi).^[84] He returned to Europe after the race to compete in the Volta a Portugal beginning 4 August.^[85]

Men's freestyle

Venezuela automatically qualified for the men's BMX freestyle as one of the highest ranked at 2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships.^[86][87]

The BMX freestyle competition is a two-round tournament, with a seeding round and a final. Each round has the cyclists perform two runs, which are 60 seconds long. Five judges give scores between 0.00 and 99.99 based on the difficulty and execution of the rider's run; the scores are averaged for a total run score. The scores in the seeding round are used to determine the start order of the cyclists in the final, with the top-seeding cyclists going last and the rest preceding in reverse order. In the final, only the best of the rider's two runs counts.^[88][89] The events took place at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.^[90]

Venezuelan cyclist Daniel Dhers, who has had the longest career in the sport and runs the North Carolina bike park where many Olympic BMX riders train,^[91] had helped BMX events become competitive in the late 1990s and, in the 21st century, advocated for it to be added to the Olympics, acting as the "de facto spokesperson" for BMX riders negotiating how the sport would transition.^[92] He said that having BMX in a competitive format on an international platform would encourage people to take up the sport as they watch the athletes have fun, as well as legitimize the sport to parents who can see a structured format and rules. He also said that the inclusion of BMX would be mutually beneficial, bringing a "fresh look" to the Olympics.^[92]

When BMX freestyle was added to the Olympic program in 2017, Dhers expected it to not appear until the next Olympiad and debut at Paris 2024, by which time he had planned to retire. Being told that the event would appear at Japan 2020, he decided to stay in competition and try to qualify.^[93] During the Games he told CNN that he hopes to also compete at Paris.^[18]

Dhers was the oldest competitor in the event, but was optimistic about his chances, saying: "If I end up winning the Olympic gold, it would be for one of the smallest countries in one of the smallest sports just introduced into the Olympics - that would be insane."^[92] Despite his age, a sport preview by Olympics.com noted him as one of the favorites along with Brandon Loupos of Australia and Rim Nakamura of Japan.^[88]

In seeding on 31 July, Dhers went fourth and placed third with an average 85.10 run, meaning he would perform third-last in the final.^[90] Dhers scored in the mid-80s in the seeding, having a first run of 84.20 and second of 86.00, slightly below second-placed Nakamura, while Australian Logan Martin achieved two runs scoring above 90.^[94]

More information Rank, Run 1 ...

Final

Rank	Run 1	Run 2	Best
	90.10	92.05	92.05

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Dhers improved on his seeding scores with two runs scoring above 90 in the final on 1 August;^[18][94] he started his first final run with a triple tailwhip and gap transfer, scoring 90.10 to sit in first on the leaderboard before Martin went out for his first run. Martin also improved on his seeding score, leading the event with 93.30. In the second run Declan Brooks and Kenneth Tencio beat Dhers's first run score; having to improve to get a medal, Dhers used more combination moves in his second run, packing his run full with flares and one-handed tricks. He achieved a 92.05 for this run, giving him the silver medal behind Martin, who crashed in his second run.^[95][96]

At the Olympics, Dhers said:^[18]

I think it's been super important to be able to showcase freestyle BMX on the biggest stage in the world. BMX Freestyle has come a long way, we used to go out in the streets, kind of create havoc. Now, we are real athletes. The Olympics solidified that position for us. We take care of our body, we take care of our minds and we just love to do crazy tricks. I'm glad, I'm so psyched that people back at home are watching it, enjoying it because it's a beautiful sport. To me, it means the world that we finally made it to the big event.

— Daniel Dhers

Men's 67 kg

The men's 67 kg kumite event took place at the Nippon Budokan on 5 August.^[141] Andrés Madera contested the elimination round in pool B, which featured an extra athlete (total six) due to the addition of Refugee Olympic Team athlete Hamoon Derafshipour. In the third bout of the round, he fought Italian Angelo Crescenzo and won 5–0, however, Crescenzo was injured and withdrew from the competition, with the result of the bout cancelled and the points Madera won forfeited. Madera went on to lose the other four bouts, placing fifth in the pool and joint-ninth in the event: in bout eight he fought Kalvis Kalniņš of Latvia, losing 2–4; in bout twelve he fought Derafshipour, losing 3–9; in the sixteenth bout he fought Steven Da Costa of France, losing 0–2; and in the twenty-first bout he took on Jordan's Abdelrahman Al-Masatfa, losing 1–4.^[141][142]

Women's 61 kg

The women's 61 kg kumite event took place at the Nippon Budokan on 6 August.^[143] Claudymar Garcés contested the elimination round in pool A. In the first bout, she fought Leïla Heurtault of France and won 8–0; she next fought China's Yin Xiaoyan in the fifth bout, losing 0–2. Her third fight, the ninth bout against Merve Çoban of Turkey, was also a loss, 2–6, but she won again in her next fight, the seventeenth bout against Japan's Mayumi Someya, 8–5.^[143] At the end of the elimination round, she was tied second in pool A with Çoban; as the Turkish athlete had beat Garcés in their bout, she proceeded to the semifinal, and Garcés was ranked third in the pool and joint-fourth in the event.^[144]

Men's tournament

Venezuela men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the pool round and securing an outright berth at the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Mostazal, Chile, marking the country's reappearance in the sport for the first time since Beijing 2008.^[165]

The Venezuelan team was seeded 36th following the serpentine system according to the FIVB World Ranking as of 15 October 2019.^[166] They were seeded bottom of pool A in the preliminary rounds, and were the lowest-ranked team in the competition.^[167]

Team roster

The Venezuelan roster was announced on 2 July 2021.^[168]

Head coach: Ronald Sarti

The captain of the Venezuelan team was number 9, José Carrasco, and the assistant coach was Humberto Montes de Oca.^[169]

Group play

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	Pts	SW	SL	SR	SPW	SPL	SPR	Qualification
1	Poland	5	4	1	13	14	4	3.500	435	365	1.192	Quarterfinals
2	Italy	5	4	1	11	12	7	1.714	447	411	1.088
3	Japan (H)	5	3	2	8	10	9	1.111	437	433	1.009
4	Canada	5	2	3	7	9	9	1.000	396	387	1.023
5	Iran	5	2	3	6	9	11	0.818	453	460	0.985
6	Venezuela	5	0	5	0	1	15	0.067	281	393	0.715

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24 July 2021 (2021-07-24) 17:05 v	Japan	3–0	Venezuela	Ariake Arena, Tokyo Referees: Luis Macias (MEX), Vladimir Simonovic (SRB)
	(25–21, 25–20, 25–15) Results Statistics

Venezuela faced Japan in match 2 of pool A. Japan won in straight sets. Japan made the first serve of the first set, serving out and giving Venezuela a point. Venezuela then served, the ball was returned, and it was sent out to give Japan a point. The short volleys and missed serves continued until the end of the set, with no volley having more than three touches, including serves. Japan edged the set to defeat Venezuela 25–21. Japan again served first in the second set, taking three points from Venezuela fouls before Venezuela scored. The fifth point of the second set, taking Venezuela to 3–2, was the first and only of the match to go over three touches, with the teams then returning to short volleys, missed serves, and fouls, to finish out the set 25–20 to Japan. The third set went much the same, the teams matching each other for eight points before Japan began taking multiple points in succession; though Venezuela pulled some back, Japan had a cleaner lead and won the set 25–15.^[169]

26 July 2021 (2021-07-26) 09:00 v	Iran	3–0	Venezuela	Ariake Arena, Tokyo Referees: Hernán Casamiquela (ARG), Susana Rodríguez (ESP)
	(25–17, 25–20, 25–18) Results Statistics

In match 4, Venezuela faced Iran, who also won in straight sets. Venezuela served first in the first set, missing the return to give Iran the point. The teams then matched each other in missed serves and short volleys until it was 10–10, when Iran began to dominate: Venezuela picked up some points from Iranian fouls but the set finished out 25–17. Iran served first in the second set, but the first point went to Venezuela. They stayed ahead as Iran matched them on the back foot for a few more points until Iran took the seventh and eighth points in succession, establishing a marginal lead at 5–3. The gap would remain as the teams continued to match each other in short volleys; when Iran was ahead on 10–8 they began taking two points for each Venezuela won, but when it reached 19–15, Venezuela mounted a comeback, taking three points in succession and countering each point Iran took after that. It proved too late, however, as Iran won the set 25–20. Venezuela then had the first serve of the third set, which they missed. Starting the set 2–0 down, Venezuela pulled back some quick points to take it to 3–4, staying just ahead as the teams matched each other to reach 8–9; Venezuela then took it to 8–11 before Iran responded in kind, leveling the scores. This repeated for the next nine points, with Venezuela moving a few points ahead before Iran pulled it back level; after the scores were 14–14, Iran moved ahead, taking the next five points to reach 19–14. Though Venezuela responded as the set closed out, the lead was again insurmountable, Iran taking the third set 25–18.^[170]

28 July 2021 (2021-07-28) 17:15 v	Poland	3–1	Venezuela	Ariake Arena, Tokyo Referees: Hamid Al-Rousi (UAE), Shin Muranaka (JPN)
	(25–16, 25–13, 18–25, 25–15) Results Statistics

Venezuela played Poland in match 8, winning the third set to lose three sets to one. Poland served first in the first set, winning the point but conceding the next. In the next few points they edged ahead of Venezuela, something repeated until they reached 13–10 in Poland's favor, when they won three points in a row; though Venezuela took points to bring it to 16–11 and then 17–12, Poland continued to win multiple points in succession as Venezuela tried to catch up, winning 25–16. In the second set, Venezuela served first and dropped the point, as they did with the next two. They then took a point to bring it to 3–1, but Poland again took a sequence of points. With two points for each of Venezuela's, Poland continued to dominate in this way for the rest of the second set, including an unbroken six-point win streak from 13–9 to 19–9; they took the set 25–13. Venezuela performed better in the third set, starting well after Poland served but lost the point, with Venezuela also taking the second point. Trading points through the set, Venezuela maintained their small lead before adding to it with a run of points from 9–10 to 11–17. Though Poland began to take points to match Venezuela, the margin led Venezuela to an 18–25 win. The match then went to a fourth set, with Venezuela serving first but losing the point to start on the back foot. Poland re-asserted their dominance with a run of points from 3–2 to 8–4; continuing to trade points again, Poland had a last run from 22–15 to 25–15, winning.^[171]

30 July 2021 (2021-07-30) 09:00 v	Canada	3–0	Venezuela	Ariake Arena, Tokyo Referees: Patricia Rolf (USA), Susana Rodríguez (ESP)
	(25–13, 25–22, 25–12) Results Statistics

In match 10, Venezuela faced Canada, losing in straight sets. They served first in the first set, winning the point before Canada took the next two points; though Venezuela equalized, a run took Canada to 5–2 and they began trading points to reach 10–8. Canada then only dropped two points while taking it to 19–10. A dominant end to the set gave Canada the win 25–13. Canada served first in the second set, taking three points before Venezuela scored. Venezuela closed the margin at 6–6, and the two teams stayed close throughout the set, reaching 21–21 before diverging when Canada took a run of points to lead 24–21. Each took one more point for Canada to win 25–22. In the third set, Venezuela served first but Canada won the point; though Venezuela won the second point, Canada had a run to reach 5–1. Four points later they repeated the feat, leading a run to 9–4. Canada continued to show dominance, taking several more runs of points, winning 25–12.^[172]

1 August 2021 (2021-08-01) 16:25 v	Italy	3–0	Venezuela	Ariake Arena, Tokyo Referees: Hernán Casamiquela (ARG), Sumie Myoi (JPN)
	(25–22, 25–15, 25–17) Results Statistics

Venezuela played Italy in match 14, losing in straight sets. In the first set, Venezuela served first and dropped the point, but fairly matched Italy throughout the set all the way to 22–22; Italy then had a run of points to win 25–22. In the second set, Italy served first and won the point, taking it to 5–1 before Venezuela started matching them. A run for Italy from 9–6 to 17–7 set them apart further; while Venezuela countered to match point-for-point in the remainder, the margin saw Italy win the set 25–15. The third set began with the teams matching each other again, reaching 11–11 before Italy moved a few points ahead, holding that margin to 17–14 before increasing it to 19–14 and finishing out the set and match 25–17.^[173]