Rui Manuel Monteiro Silva ComIH (born 3 August 1977) is a Portuguese track and field athlete and coach who represents S.L. Benfica.[1] As a distance runner, he specializes at the 1500 and 3000 m events, although he has at times run the 800 metres as well. Silva is the current national champion at 1500 m.

Rui Silva
Silva in 2010
Personal information
Full nameRui Manuel Monteiro Silva
NationalityPortuguese
Born (1977-08-03) 3 August 1977 (age 47)
Santarém, Portugal
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field (Running)
Event(s)1500 m, 3000 m
ClubS.L. Benfica
Achievements and titles
Olympic finalsAthens 2004:
1500 m – Bronze
World finalsLisbon 2001 (indoor):
1500 m – Gold
Regional finalsValencia 1998 (indoor):
1500 m – Gold
Vienna 2002 (indoor):
1500 m – Gold
Turin 2009 (indoor):
1500 m – Gold
Leiria 2009:
1500 m – Gold
Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 1500 m
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Helsinki 1500 m
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2001 Lisbon 1500 m
Silver medal – second place 2004 Budapest 3000 m
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 1998 Budapest 1500 m
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Munich 1500 m
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Valencia 1500 m
Gold medal – first place 2002 Vienna 1500 m
Gold medal – first place 2009 Torino 1500 m
Silver medal – second place 2000 Ghent 3000 m

Biography

edit

Silva was the Olympic bronze medalist at Athens in 2004, where he went from last place to third place in less than 400 meters, his last lap being in 51.3 seconds. His last 800 meters of that race were run in 1:46.3, believed to be the second-fastest final 800 metres of any 1500-meter race in history (behind Abdi Bile's 1:46.0 at the 1987 World Championships). Injuries prevented him from participating in various international competitions from 2007 to 2009.

In addition to his Olympic medal, he won the 1500 m bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has had much success indoors over 1500 m, having won the World Indoor title in 2001 and taken the European Indoor title on three occasions.

Running in the European Cross Country, he came third running an even-paced race with a fast finish to claim the bronze position. The race was over 10 kilometres and was run at a very quick pace throughout. He began to move up in distance from 2009 onwards. He ran in the 5000 m and 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, being eliminated in the heats in shorter distance, but coming eleventh over the 10,000 m. He competed at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March 2012 and was the first Portuguese home in fourth place with a personal best of 1:02:40 hours.[2]

Competition record

edit
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Portugal
1995 European Junior Championships Nyíregyháza, Hungary 8th 1500 m 3:50.75
1996 World Junior Championships Sydney, Australia 6th 1500 m 3:41.81
1998 European Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 1st 1500 m 3:44.57
European Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 1500 m 3:41.84
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 5th 1500 m 3:34.99
European U23 Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 1st 1500 m 3:44.29
World Championships Seville, Spain 22nd (sf) 1500 m 3:50.85
2000 European Indoor Championships Ghent, Belgium 2nd 3000 m 7:49.70
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 32nd (h) 1500 m 3:41.93
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 1st 1500 m 3:51.06
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 7th 1500 m 3:35.74
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 1st 1500 m 3:49.93
European Championships Munich, Germany 3rd 1500 m 3:45.43
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 20th (h) 1500 m 3:48.41
World Championships Paris, France 5th 1500 m 3:33.68
2004 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 3000 m 7:57.08
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 3rd 1500 m 3:34.68
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 1500 m 3:38.02
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 1st 1500 m 3:44.38
Lusophony Games Lisbon, Portugal 2nd 800 m 1:49.03
World Championships Berlin, Germany 23rd (sf) 1500 m 3:41.30
2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 6th 3000 m 7:59.49
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 22nd (h) 5000 m 13:50.16
11th 10,000 m 28:48.62
2012 Lisbon Half Marathon Lisbon, Portugal 4th Half marathon 1:02:40

References

edit
  1. ^ ""É um projeto muito aliciante"" [It is a very attractive project]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 11 November 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  2. ^ Fernandes, António Manuel (25 March 2012). Tadese collects third consecutive win in Lisbon. IAAF. Retrieved on 26 March 2012.
edit