Julián Alberto Rojas Rivera (born May 11, 1978 in La Montañita, Caquetá) is a Colombian taekwondo practitioner, who attained a seventh-place finish in the men's heavyweight category at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[1][2]

Julian Rojas
Personal information
Full nameJulián Alberto Rojas Rivera
Nationality Colombia
Born (1978-05-11) 11 May 1978 (age 46)
La Montañita, Caquetá,
Colombia
Height1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
Event+80 kg

Rojas qualified for the Colombian squad in the men's heavyweight class (+80 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by defeating Costa Rica's Kristopher Moitland for a top spot and granting a berth from the Pan American Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Querétaro, Mexico.[3][4] He lost his opening match by a 3–7 margin to Greek crowd favorite and two-meter-tall fighter Alexandros Nikolaidis, but redeemed himself to compete for the Olympic bronze medal through the repechage, following Nikolaidis' progress towards the final.[5] In the repechage, Rojas subsided his Olympic medal chance for Colombia by losing the first playoff 2–6 to tall Moroccan player Abdelkader Zrouri, relegating him to seventh position.[6][7]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Julian Rojas". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Taekwondo: Atenas, Allá van" [Taekwondo: Athens, move beyond] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 3 February 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Athens 2004: Taekwondo – Men's Entry List by NOC" (PDF). Athens 2004. LA84 Foundation. pp. 2–4. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Cumplen los mexicanos" [Meet the Mexicans] (in Spanish). Esmas.com. 2 February 2004. Archived from the original on 8 April 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Grego continua na luta pelo ouro no taekwondo" [Greek taekwondo player continues his quest for gold] (in Spanish). Terra Networks. 30 August 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Taekwondo – Men's Heavyweight (+80kg/+176lbs) Repechage Round 1". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 12 August 2004. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Taekwondo: Julián Rojas perdió sus dos peleas y quedó afuera" [Taekwondo: Julian Rojas lost both fights and left empty-handed] (in Spanish). Colombia.com. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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