Robson DA SILVA

Robson da Silva built up an incredible record as a sprinter in international competition over many years, not only in the South American Championships, where he won a record 14 gold medals, but also in global competitions. In 1983, da Silva competed at his first World Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the second round of the 100m. He fared marginally better at the next year's Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where he reached the semi-finals of the 200m before he was eliminated. In 1985 Robson started his incredible odyssey at the South American Championships, winning gold in the 200m and 4 x 100m relay, and a silver in the 100m. The following month he won the 200m at the World Cup in Canberra, in a personal best time of 20.44sec.

He improved this personal best to 20.28sec in 1986, and then to 20.20 sec in early 1987. Later that year, in the 200m final at the World Championships in Rome, Robson was second at the halfway mark, but faded to finish fourth in 20.22sec. He also competed at Rome in the 100m, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals, and in the 4 x 100m relay, where Brazil was eliminated in their semi-final. The following month he won three gold medals at the South American Championships in Sao Paulo, in the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100m relay. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul da Silva made the 100m final where he finished 5th in 10.11sec. He also made the 200m final on 28 September, which seemed a match race between USA teammates Joe DeLoach and Carl Lewis. As expected, the two Americans filled the first two places, while da Silva (see photo above, lane 4) overtook Britainís Linford Christie (lane 5) in the closing stages to grab the bronze medal in a new personal best of 20.04sec. (Ron Casey) .

Following his fourth place finish in the 200m at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, Robson da Silva had gone one better the following year, when he won the bronze medal in the 200m at the Olympic Games in Seoul. The ensuing years proved a frustrating time for da Silva, as he recorded a number of fourth-place finishes at major championships. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, he finished 7th in the 100m final, and then finished a close fourth in the 200m final, clocking the same time (20.49sec) as the bronze medallist. He had even worse luck at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where after being eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100m, he again finished fourth in the 200m final, and then in a rare appearance in a 4 x 400m relay, he ran the first leg on the Brazilian team which also finished fourth.

Robson encountered further disappointment at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, where he finished third in his 200m semi-final, but was disqualified for stepping outside his lane. In May 1995, da Silva appeared at his last South American Championships, winning three gold medals in the sprint double and relay. Later that year, at the World Championships in Gothenburg, he was eliminated in his semi-final of the 100m. In the 200m he (see photo above) won both his first and second round heats on 10 August, and eventually qualified for the final the following day, where he again finished fourth. Robson competed at his fourth and final Olympics at Atlanta in 1996, where he was eliminated in the second round heats of the 200m. His Olympic career ended on a high note however, when he ran the second leg on the Brazilian 4 x 100m relay team which won the bronze medal in a new South American record time of 38.41sec. (Ron Casey)