Alcino Gomes da Silva, often known as Alcino Silva (born September 30, 1990), is a

sprint canoer Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are som ...

from

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

who competed in the late 2000s. Silva represented his country at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, where he competed in two

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

events and became the first Santomean athlete to compete at the Olympics in any sport other than track. In the men's K-1 500 metres, Silva finished sixth in his heat with a time of 1:58.178. Although this was the second-slowest time, both in his heat and in the entire competition, it was enough to advance to the semifinals. However, he was eliminated at that stage after finishing ninth, last in his heat and among all semifinalists, with a time of 2:06.288, failing to advance to the final by a wide margin. All but one athlete finished at least ten seconds faster, and most finished at least 20 seconds faster. At the age of 17, Silva was the youngest competitor in the event, as well as the youngest athlete in the three-person Santomean delegation and the youngest male competitor ever to represent São Tomé and Príncipe at the Olympics. In the K-1 1000 metres, where he was again the youngest competitor to participate, Silva finished ninth, last in his heat, with a time of 4:28.057. This was the slowest time in the entire competition by a wide margin. The next slowest,

Kotoua Francis Abia Koutoua Francis Abia (born August 13, 1965) is an Ivorian sprint canoer who has competed since the early 1990s. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, he was eliminated in the repechages of the K-2 500 m event. Four years later in Atlanta, ...

of Ivory Coast, finished with a time of 4:14.411, almost 14 seconds ahead of Silva. As a result, he failed to advance to the semifinals. Silva was also runner-up in the K-1 200 metres event at the 2009 African Canoe-Kayak Championships, finishing with a time of 41.62 seconds.Sixth flatwater African Canoe-Kayak Championships-Paddler Lespoir satisfied with bronze medals
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Alcino 1990 births Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic canoeists of São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe male canoeists