Ronaldo da Costa

Ronaldo da Costa (born June 7, 1970 in Descoberto, Brazil) is a former long-distance runner and world-record holder for the marathon distance.

Career

Da Costa broke the ten-year-old marathon world record in 1998 in Berlin, having been fifth-placed in the previous year. The record had been held by Belayneh Densamo from Ethiopia at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 1988.^[1] The record fell in the following year, almost eleven months later.

The youngest of eleven children, Da Costa became a national hero after winning the internationally competed São Silvestre Brazilian road race (15 km) in 1994. The same year he won the 5,000 m in the Ibero-American Championships entered by south-western European, Central and Southern American countries. From 1997, aged 27, until 2003 Da Costa achieved top-20 results in four marathons, however unlike most marathon record holders, did not win any international marathons apart from his world-record-breaking run.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Brazil
1994	World Half Marathon Championships	Oslo, Norway	3rd	Half marathon	60:00.54
	Ibero-American Championships	Mar del Plata, Argentina	1st	5000m	13:47.99
			2nd	10,000m	28:18.26
1995	Pan American Games	Mar del Plata, Argentina	7th	5000 m	14:01.47
			3rd	10,000 m	29:07.68
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia	16th	10,000 m	29:26.58
1997	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	5th	Marathon	2:09:07
1998	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon	2:06:05
	World Half Marathon Championships	Uster	12th	Half marathon	61:04.54
2002	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	16th	Marathon	2:12:52
2003	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	17th	Marathon	2:20:57

References

External links

• Profile

Records
Preceded by Belayneh Dinsamo	Men's Marathon World Record Holder September 20, 1998 – October 24, 1999	Succeeded by Khalid Khannouchi