Joaquim Cruz

Joaquim Carvalho Cruz (born March 12, 1963) is a former Brazilian athlete, winner of the 800 m at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Cruz was born in Taguatinga, near Brasília, as the son of a steel worker. He began running as a 13-year-old, and soon showed astonishing talent as a junior. At the age of only 15 his personal best over 800 m stood at 1:51 min. After setting a junior world record of 1:44.3 min in 1981, he received a scholarship for the University of Oregon in 1983. The move immediately paid off, and Cruz won the NCAA championships over 800 m that same year. He also competed in the inaugural World Championships, winning the bronze.

The following year, the Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, and Cruz was considered to be one of the favorites, along with world record holder Sebastian Coe of Britain. In the final turn, Cruz started a sprint from third place and took the lead, never losing it. He crossed the line in 1:43.00, a new Olympic Record, making him the first Brazilian Olympic track and field gold medalist since triple jumper Adhemar Ferreira da Silva won both in 1952 and 1956.

Due to a cold, Cruz did not start in the semi-finals of the Olympic 1500 m, which caused quite a stir among the Brazilians, who thought he didn't want to represent his country in an event in which his chances of winning were smaller.

A few weeks after the Olympic Games, Cruz ran a new Brazilian 800 m record at a meeting in Cologne. His time of 1:41.77 was only 4/100 of a second outside the world record. At the end of 2006 he was still the third fastest athlete in the history of the event. Also in 1984 he ran a time of 2:14.09 min over 1000 m in Nice which is still the current South American record over that distance. In 1985 Cruz confirmed the excellent results of the previous year by running sub-1:43 times in Europe. In the following two years he was struggling with injuries.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics, Cruz appeared to be on his way to retain his Olympic 800 m title when he was passed by Kenyan runner Paul Ereng, leaving Cruz with the silver medal. Troubled by Achilles' tendon injuries, Cruz was never again able to reach the international top level. In 1993, he tried to make a comeback and started over 1500 m at various Grand Prix races in Europe but failed to make a major impact.

Cruz was a torchbearer and lit the flame cauldron at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, on July 13, 2007.

References

* [http://www.joaquimcruz.com/portugues.html Official site (in Portuguese)]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=180 Brief Career Bio at Sporting Heroes (in English)]