María do Carmo Sánchez Tavares de Miranda (born 27 April 1974 in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

) is a Portuguese middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. At age thirty-four, Tavares made her official debut for 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 she competed in the women's 800 metres. She ran in the sixth and final heat against six other athletes, including Kenya's Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei, who eventually won the silver medal in the final. She finished the race in sixth place by more than a second behind Italy's

Elisa Cusma Piccione Elisa Cusma (born 24 July 1981 in Bologna) is a former Italian middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. Biography She finished seventh at the 2007 World Athletics Final, sixth at the 2008 World Indoor Championships, sixth at th ...

, with a time of 2:01.91. Tavares, however, failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed twenty-first overall, and was ranked farther below three mandatory slots for the next round.

References

External links

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NBC Olympics Profile
1974 births Living people Athletes from Lisbon Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Portugal Portuguese female middle-distance runners {{Portugal-athletics-bio-stub Portuguese people of African descent