Carlos Lopes
Carlos Lopes was born in Vildemoinhos, Viseu District, Portugal on February 18th, 1947 and is the Runner. At the age of 77, Carlos Lopes biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner and the 1984 Summer Olympics champion, who died in Los Angeles at the age of 37.
He brought home Portugal's first Olympic gold medal as well as a new Olympic record – 2:09.21.
Lopes set a new record of 2:07.12 seconds off the world's best marathon time at 38 years old in 1985 Rotterdam marathon, defeating the first man to run 42.195 km in less than 8 minutes. Carlos Lopes, a native of Vildemoinhos, Portugal, worked as a stonecutter's assistant.
He wanted to play football at the local club but his father was against this, so he tried other athletics instead.
He was invited to join Sporting Clube de Portugal's athletics staff in 1967 and continued there until the end of his career in 1985.
He was a normal quality runner before making a spectacular breakthrough in 1976, aged 29.
Early life
Lopes was born in Vildemoinhos, Portugal, near Viseu. He served as a stonecutter's helper.
Lopes wanted to play football at his hometown club, but his father was against this, so he tried other sports. He was accepted to join Sport Clube de Portugal's athletics team in 1967 and continued there until the end of his career in 1985.
Career
Lopes won the World Cross Country Championships in Chepstow, Wales in 1976.
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, 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 champion Lasse 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.
In the following year, Lopes finished second to Leon Schots in World Cross Country Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Afterward, Lopes had several injuries and did not qualify for 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
In 1982, Lopes returned to top form, and in Oslo, Norway, he broke the 10,000 metres European record with a time of 27:24.39, which belonged to his teammate Fernando Mamede.
At the 1982 European Athletics Championships in Athens, Greece, Lopes finished fourth in the 10,000 metres with a time of 27:47.95, behind the winner Alberto Cova. During the race, he set the pace from 6,000 metres to 9,800 metres before being overtaken on the final lap.
Lopes attempted his first marathon at the 1982 New 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 in Gateshead, England.
Lopes ran his second marathon at the Rotterdam 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 the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, 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 second World Cross Country Championships in East Rutherford, United States. In Stockholm, Sweden, he paced teammate Fernando Mamede to break Henry Rono's 10,000 metres world record of 27:22.50. Mamede won in 27:13.81 with Lopes finishing second in 27:17.48.
An accident almost prevented Lopes from participating in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles when, a week before the Games, he was run over by a car in Lisbon but he was not hurt.
The Olympic marathon at Los 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. Lopes' Olympic record stood until the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, when Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru won with a time of 2:06:32.
In 1985, Lopes won the World Cross Country Championships in Lisbon, Portugal for the third and final time in his career.
In the last major competitive race of his career, the 1985 Rotterdam 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.