Carlos Lopes
Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈkaɾluʒ ˈlɔpɨʃ], born 18 February 1947) is a Portuguese former long-distance runner who competed for Sporting of Portugal at club level.[1]
For the Paralympic athlete, see Carlos Lopes (Paralympic athlete). For other people, see Carlos López.
He won the marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming Portugal's first Olympic gold medalist and setting an Olympic record for the event.[2] This record in the men’s marathon stood for 24 years.[3]
In 1985, Lopes set the marathon world record at 2:07:12 at the Rotterdam Marathon.
Early life[edit]
Lopes was born in Vildemoinhos, near Viseu, Portugal. He worked as a stonecutter's helper.
Lopes wanted to play football at his local club, but his father opposed this, so he turned to other sports. In 1967, he was invited to join the athletics team of Sporting Clube de Portugal where his coach was Mário Moniz Pereira,[4] and remained there until the end of his career in 1985.[5][6]
Popular culture[edit]
Lopes appears in the 14th episode of season 12 of The Simpsons, as Homer is watching a documentary about the Olympics' greatest moments on TV.
He is credited with being the oldest ever winner of the 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.