Adhemar da Silva

Adhemar da Silva

Personal information
Full name	Adhemar Ferreira da Silva[1]
Born	(1927-09-29)September 29, 1927[2] São Paulo, Brazil[2]
Died	January 12, 2001(2001-01-12) (aged 73)[2] São Paulo, Brazil[2]
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight	69 kg (152 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Triple jump, long jump
Club	São Paulo FC Vasco da Gama, Rio de Janeiro
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	TJ - 16.56 m (1955) LJ - 6.93 m (1951)[3]
Medal record Representing  Brazil Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Triple jump 1956 Melbourne Triple jump Pan American Games 1951 Buenos Aires Triple jump 1955 Mexico City Triple jump 1959 Chicago Triple jump World Student Games 1955 San Sebastián, Spain Triple jump
Updated on 13 June 2015.

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (September 29, 1927 – January 12, 2001) was a Brazilian triple jumper. He won two Olympic gold medals and set four world records in athletics, the last being 16.56 metres in 1955 Pan American Games. In his early career he also competed in the long jump, placing fourth at the 1951 Pan American Games.^[3]

Biography

Da Silva was born in São Paulo, in a poor family, and began competing in the triple jump in 1947. Under the coaching of German Dietrich Gerner, he soon showed his talent, breaking the national record and qualifying for the Brazilian team to 1948 Olympics, where he placed only 8th. However, at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, he became a two-time Olympic champion and world record holder and the only Brazilian athlete to have won gold in two consecutive Olympics until the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. There, the Brazilian women's volleyball squad defended their title, obtained four years earlier in Beijing, making six of their members consecutive Olympic champions (Jaqueline Carvalho, Sheilla Castro, Fabiana Claudino, Thaísa Menezes, Fabiana Oliveira and Paula Pequeno).

He was a member of the São Paulo Futebol Clube, and because of him, the team coat has two gold stars above the emblem. He also competed for Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama from 1955 to 1959.

In 1959, da Silva acted in the film Orfeu Negro, portraying Death.^[4] It won the Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

De Silva made his final Olympic appearance in Rome in 1960, finishing 14th.^[2] In 2012 he was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame.^[5]

Olympic Games

Adhemar did not get a good result at the London Games, leaving only in 14th place. But the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952, when the athlete entered the track to dispute the triple jump, I did not imagine hitting the world record at the time was 16 meters, much less repeat the feat four times in the afternoon. Jumped 16.05 m, 16.09 m, 16.12 m and 16.22 m. For the first time an athlete gave a victory lap on the track, to be applauded by the public. Before the race, he has asked the Finnish cook, who had known, a special dish for your return: steak with salad. When returning, Adhemar found the dish and a cake with the inscription "16.22". In Melbourne 1956, two days before the race a terrible toothache threatened the performance of the Brazilian athlete, but a providential trip to the dentist for a puncture solved the problem. After an duel with the Icelandic Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Adhemar was consecrated champion, becoming the by then only Olympic champion Brazil, with the mark of 16.35 meters. It would only be equaled 48 years later by the yachtists Robert Scheidt, Torben Grael, Marcelo Ferreira and the volleyball players Giovanni and Mauritius, all Olympic two-time champions in Athens 2004.

For lung problems undiagnosed by the doctors, he even crossed the qualifiers in Rome in 1960. Summer Olympics since 16 years, and even during its glory days, Adhemar smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. [3]

In 1993 he received the title of Hero of Helsinki, along with Emil Zatopek and in 2000 was honored by the COB to the Olympic Merit. [3]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adhemar da Silva.

• Adhemar Ferreira da Silva in Confederação Brasileira de Atletismo website