On October 26, 1968, the name of Francisco “Black” Rodriguezwho with a broken thumb, lifted the first Olympic medal in Venezuela. However, on April 23, 2024, the death of the legend of the boxing Venezuelan at 78 years of age.
“The Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Olympic Committee joins the regrettable loss of our sport! Francisco ‘Morochito’ Rodríguez, the first athlete to play our anthem at the Olympic Games, left us without the light of his presence,” they said on the official account. of X, formerly Twitter, of the COV this Wednesday early in the morning.
Rodríguez was born in Cumaná, Sucre state, on September 20, 1945. He participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, where he won the fight for Olympic gold against South Korean Yong-Ju Jee, in the junior flyweight category.
According to reports from El Diario journalist Manuel Alejandro Ramírez, “Morochito” died due to anemia that gradually worsened. The boxer was subjected to observation for several days in the medical center until he finally died. .
“For us it will forever be an honor to have had ‘Morochito’ Rodríguez as Glory Deportiva of Venezuela. God give him eternal rest, we will always feel proud of you,” the director of the Glorias Deportivas de Venezuela Foundation wrote on Instagram upon learning the death of the Cumanian who also won gold medals at the 1967 Winnipeg and Cali 1971 Pan American Games.
Francisco ‘Morochito’ Rodríguez is part of Venezuela’s sports elite as he is one of the four gold medalists in the Olympic Games, along with the taek-won-doka Arlindo Gouveia, the fencer Rubén Limardo and the triple jumper Yulimar Rojas.
