Joaquim CRUZ

The amazing athletic talent of Joaquim Carvalho Cruz became clearly evident at a very early age. In 1980, at 17 years of age, Joaquim won the 800m and 1500m at the Pan-American Junior Championships in Sudbury. On 27 June the following year in Rio de Janeiro, Cruz broke the 15 year-old world junior record of the venerable Jim Ryun (USA), setting a new time of 1min 44.3sec. Later that year Cruz represented the Americas in the 800m at the World Cup in Rome, where, in his first major international competition against senior athletes, he finished 6th to world record holder Sebastian Coe (Great Britain). After that start to his career, 1982 was a bit of a disappointment for Cruz, as his best 800m time for the year was 1min 46.95sec set on 25 April. Circumstances changed dramatically however, when Cruz enrolled at the University of Oregon in 1983, as this heralded the start of his rise to superstardom.

Following a victory in the 800m at the 1983 USA National Collegiate Championships in Houston on 3 June, Cruz embarked on a quite successful season in Europe, where he achieved victories at Oslo on 9 July in a new personal best of 1min 44.03sec, and at Nice on 18 July in 1min 44.32sec. At the World Championships held in Helsinki the following month, Cruz showed that he was a force to be reckoned with when he won the first of three semi-finals on 8 August in 1min 45.62sec. In the final held the following day, the young Cruz (see photo above) led the field out at a very fast pace, leading through 200m in 24.4sec and 300m in 37.2sec. Cruz surrendered the lead at the bell, but stayed in contention, briefly regaining the lead approaching the home straight, before fading to a third place finish in 1min 44.27sec. (Ron Casey)

Joaquim Cruz had been a promising 800m runner before he enrolled at the University of Oregon in 1983, setting a world junior record in 1981. However, Cruz's career really started to blossom in his first year at Oregon, culminating in a bronze medal at the World Championships. Cruz was even more devastating in 1984, lowering his South American 1500m record three times early in the USA season, before successfully defending his 800m title at the National Collegiate Championships in Eugene on 1 June, and then the following day, capturing the 1500m title as well in another new South American record of 3min 36.48sec. Cruz was simply devastating in the 800m at the Olympics Games in Los Angeles that year, winning his heat (1min 45.66sec), his quarter-final (1min 44.84sec), and his semi-final (1min 43.82sec) on consecutive days. His semi-final time was a personal best, and placed Joaquim as a serious threat to world record holder Sebastian Coe (Great Britain) in the final the next day.

In the final, on 6 August, Cruz followed the pace set by Kenyan Edwin Koech until they entered the home straight, before sprinting past Koech to win the gold medal from Coe (see photo above) in another personal best of 1min 43.00sec. The four hard races must have taken their toll on Joaquim, as he contracted a head cold, and had to withdraw from the semi-finals of the 1500m after winning his heat. After the Olympics Cruz travelled to Europe where in less than a week he lowered his 800m personal best to 1min 42.34sec at Zurich, followed this with 1min 42.41sec at Brussels, and then clocked a phenomenal 1min 41.77sec at Cologne, missing Coe's world record by a mere 0.04sec. Including his Olympic final time, Cruz had run four of the fastest 800m times in history during August 1984. (Ron Casey)

After his amazing performances in August 1984, where he won the Olympic 800m title, and set four of the fastest times in history, it seemed just a matter of time, before Joaquim Cruz would claim the world record of Sebastian Coe. Cruz had another great year in 1985, dipping under 1min 43sec on three occasions, but Coe's world record continued to elude him. By the end of the year, Cruz owned 8 of the 15 fastest times ever run over 800 metres. The following year was not a happy one for Joaquim, and he missed the entire season due to Achilles tendinitis, which required surgery. Although he returned to competition in 1987, it was relatively low-key, and his Achilles problems caused him to withdraw from the World Championships in Rome. Cruz returned in 1988 seemingly as good as ever, and he reduced his South American 1500m record to 3min 34.63sec at Hengelo on 14 August.

At the Olympic Games in Seoul, Joaquim (see photo above) cruised through the early rounds of the 800m, and seemed in good shape to successfully defend his title. In the final, held on 25 September, Cruz hit the lead around the home turn, and seemed to have the title sewn up, until he was passed by unheralded Paul Ereng (Kenya) in the straight. Cruz's silver medal-winning time of 1min 43.90sec was his fastest in three years. Cruz qualified for the 1500m semi-finals on 30 September, but decided to withdraw. There was speculation as to whether this was due to his four hard races in the 800m, or the emotional turmoil sparked by statements attributed to him about drug taking by other athletes, which he vehemently denied making. Cruz continued to be plagued by his Achilles problems for the remainder of his career, and was never again competitive at the international level. (Ron Casey)