 Lopes at the 1985Rotterdam Marathon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Portugal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1947-02-18)18 February 1947 (age 78) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics/Track,Long-distance running | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 5000 metres,10,000 metres,Marathon,Cross country | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Sporting Clube de Portugal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest(s) | 5000 m: 13:16.38 10,000 m: 27:17.48 Marathon: 2:07:12[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Carlos Alberto de Sousa LopesCGIH (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈkaɾluʒˈlɔpɨʃ], born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese formerlong-distance runner and world-record holder in themarathon. He won themarathon at the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles, becomingPortugal's first Olympic gold medalist, the oldest ever Olympic marathon winner at the age of 37, and setting an Olympic record for the event which stood for 24 years.[2][3][4] On 20 April 1985, Lopes set the men's marathon world record at 2:07:12 at theRotterdam Marathon.[4] At club level, he competed forSporting CP.[5]
Regarded as one of the greatest Portuguese athletes of all-time, Lopes is the last European to hold the men's marathon world-record, between 1985 and 1988.[6][7] He won two Olympic medals, threeWorld Cross Country Championships (1976, 1984, 1985), two national10,000 metres championships (1970, 1978), two national5000 metres championships (1968, 1983) and one national3000 metres steeplechase championship (1975).[8]
Carlos Lopes was born on 18 February 1947 in Vildemoinhos, nearViseu, Portugal. He was the first child in a family with eight children.[9] To help with the family's financial struggles, he started working at age 13, taking several jobs such asstonemason's assistant andmetalworker.[9]
Lopes wanted to playfootball at local clubLusitano, but his father opposed it, so he turned to other sports. In 1967, he was invited to jointhe athletics team ofSporting Clube de Portugal, where his coach wasMário Moniz Pereira,[10] and remained there until the end of his career in 1985.[11][12]
Lopes won theWorld Cross Country Championships inChepstow, Wales in 1976.
At the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal, Lopes competed in the 10,000 metres. In the race, Lopes set the pace from the 4000 metres mark, and the only athlete to follow him was defending double Olympic championLasse Virén. Virén passed Lopes with a lap to go to win the gold medal, and Lopes finished a comfortable second.
During the race, Lopes ran the first 5,000 metres in 14:08.94, and the second 5,000 metres in 13:36.23, a remarkable proof of his ability to steadily accelerate his pace. What he generally lacked in the track races, however, was an ability to sharply increase his pace in the final lap or so.[13]
In the following year, Lopes finished second toLeon Schots in World Cross Country Championships inDüsseldorf, Germany.
Afterward, Lopes had several injuries and did not qualify for1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow.
In 1982, Lopes returned to top form, and inOslo, Norway, he broke the 10,000 metres European record with a time of 27:24.39, which belonged to his teammateFernando Mamede.
At the1982 European Athletics Championships inAthens, Greece, Lopes finished fourth in the 10,000 metres with a time of 27:47.95, behind the winnerAlberto Cova. During the race, he set the pace from 6,000 metres to 9,800 metres before being overtaken on the final lap.[14][15][16]
Lopes attempted his first marathon at the 1982New York City Marathon, but he did not finish due to an accident in which he ran into a spectator.
In 1983, he finished second at the World Cross Country Championships inGateshead, England.
Lopes ran his second marathon at theRotterdam Marathon in 1983. He finished second in a European record time of 2:08:39, two seconds behind the race winner,Robert de Castella. He then decided to run the 10,000 metres at the1983 World Championships inHelsinki, Finland, where he finished sixth behind the winner Alberto Cova. After that he decided to concentrate on the marathon and cross country.
In 1984, Lopes won his secondWorld Cross Country Championships inEast Rutherford, United States.[17] InStockholm, Sweden, he paced teammate Fernando Mamede to breakHenry Rono's 10,000 metres world record of 27:22.50.[18] Mamede won in 27:13.81 with Lopes finishing second in 27:17.48.
An accident almost prevented Lopes from participating in the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles when, a week before the Games, he was run over by a car inLisbon but he was not hurt.
The Olympic marathon atLos Angeles was run in very warm conditions, and as the favorites gradually fell away, Lopes won the gold medal with a 200 metres advantage and in an Olympic record time of 2:09:21 at the age of 37. This victory established his reputation as a world class runner, because he ran the last 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) at an average speed of 2:55 per km (4:42 per mile), a remarkably quick pace at the end of a marathon.[19][20] Lopes' Olympic record stood until the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, China, when KenyanSammy Wanjiru won with a time of 2:06:32.
In 1985, Lopes won the World Cross Country Championships inLisbon, Portugal for the third and final time in his career.
In the last major competitive race of his career, the 1985Rotterdam Marathon, Lopes took 53 seconds off the world's best marathon time with a winning time of 2:07.12, and becoming the first man to run 42.195 km in less than 2:08.00.
Knight of theOrder of Prince Henry (23 December 1977)
Officer of the Order of Prince Henry (4 July 1984)
Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry (26 October 1984)
Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (24 August 1985)Lopes appears in the14th episode ofseason 12 ofThe Simpsons, where Homer learns in a documentary that Lopes is the oldest ever winner of the Olympic marathon, at 38, and inspires Homer, who claims to be almost his age, to enter the Springfield Marathon. Lopes was actually 37 when he won the 1984 Olympic marathon.
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Men's Marathon World Record Holder 20 April 1985 – 17 April 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Men's Marathon Olympic Record Holder 12 August 1984 – 24 August 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Olympic Medal Nobre Guedes 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Men's Fastest Marathon Race 1985 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
