- António Pinto
António Coelho Pinto (born
March 22 ,1966 inVila Garcia ,Amarante ) is a Portuguese long-distance runner who won theLondon Marathon in 1992, 1997 and 2000. He also won the 10,000 metres final at the1998 European Championships in Athletics inBudapest, Hungary . Pinto's best time in the marathon is 2:06:36. He competed in four consecutiveSummer Olympics for his native country, beginning in 1988.Previously a cyclist, Pinto switched to running in 1986. World class over 10,000m, he made the Olympic final in 1988, in only his third year in the sport, captured the European title ten years later in 1998, and added the European record in 1999. But it is at the marathon that he has become best known. A modest seventh place (2:12:39) debut at
Carpi , in 1991, was only a hint at what was to come.With a best time for the marathon of 2:06:36, which is a European record for the classic distance, and six other sub-2:09:00 finishes, Pinto is one of the fastest and most consistent marathoners of all time. He retired from international competition in
2002 . Pinto is married, has two children, and works in his family-ownedvineyard s outsidePorto .External links
*iaaf name|id=2276|name=António Pinto
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.