Barcelona, 25 Mar When Yulimar Rojas made history in Belgrade by signing a new world record in triple jump (15,74), it took little time for FC Barcelona to congratulate her on their social networks. The message was addressed to an athlete from the club. Because since 2016 the best triplist in the world has been part of Barça's athletics section, which pays her around 10,000 euros a year for wearing barça in competitions held in Spain. The figure that Yulimar perceives from this non-professional section of Barcelona is symbolic. In fact, as Vicente Egido, delegate of barça athletics, explains to EFE, it is an approximate amount to participate in national competitions. Rojas is not the only Olympian who plays for Barça. Among the more than 200 federated in this century-old section of the club, a total of nine athletes participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games. The Venezuelan triplist wears barça only at athletic meetings held in Spain. At the Olympic Games and World Cups, the Venezuelan uniform is worn, while at international meetings the uniform of Nike, its main sponsor, is worn. The relationship between Rojas and Barça took shape after the 2016 Olympic Games. After winning silver in Rio de Janeiro, Yulimar, who trains in Guadalajara, was looking for a club to compete with at the Spanish level. And Barça was the best option. Nike, who at the same time saw all the sections of the Barça club, had a lot of weight in Rojas' decision to sign for the Catalan entity. “Your manager contacted me and we talked. He came through Nike,” explains Egido, a veteran of Barcelona's athletics section since 1999. In November 2016, the club's media announced the signing of Rojas with great fanfare. The Olympic medalist even stepped on the pitch of Camp Nou with her coach, the Cuban Iván Pedroso. “I will be proud to defend the colors of this club because I have had a passion for Barça since I was very young. I have always been a fan of the football team, and that's why I didn't think twice about it,” Rojas revealed the day when his signing was made official. Six years later, he does not publicly hide his link with the Barça club. In his Twitter and Instagram biography, he mentions his relationship with the club - “FC Barcelona athlete” - and regularly publishes photographs of the Spanish competitions in which he participates and wears barça. Barcelona is also taking advantage of the alliance with this world sports icon who was awarded the best athlete of the year 2020 by World Athletics. Proof of this is that after the gold won at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the entity invited her to perform the honorary kick of Barça-Getafe on the third day of LaLiga held at the end of August 2021, an “unusual and quite exceptional” event, according to sources from the entity. Yulimar jumped onto the pitch with metal around his neck, received applause from the crowd at Camp Nou and watched the match from the stage accompanied by President Joan Laporta, who gave him a commemorative shirt bearing his name and the brand he won in Japan (15,67). After being proclaimed in Belgrade for the third time world champion in indoor triple jumping, an unprecedented feat, with a new world record of 15.74, at Barcelona they are convinced that Rojas will become the first woman to exceed 16 meters. “She is an athlete who started playing volleyball, then tried high jumps and is now an Olympic champion in triple jump. It has special genetics and will surely reach 16 meters”, predicts Egido. While that doesn't happen, Rojas, who renews his bond year after year with Barcelona's athletics section, will continue to wear barça when he competes in Spain. And he will do so, according to Egido, with the same attitude he has shown since he joined the entity in 2016. “She is always happy and happy to compete with us and she gets along very well with all her teammates”, reveals the Barça delegate. Money is the least of it. CHIEF vmc/og
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