José Luíz Barbosa, known as Zequinha Barbosa (born May 27, 1961) is a Brazilian former middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. José participated in 4 Olympic Games: 1984 Los Angeles; 1988 Soul Korea; 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta. He is the 1987 World Indoor Champion, and a two-time

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

medallist, winning silver in 1991 and bronze in 1987. 1995 Pan American gold medalist 800 m 1987 Silver medalist, 1983 Silver medalist 800 m and Silver 4 × 400 m. Jose was ranked number one in the world in the 800 m in 1991.

Career

Born in Três Lagoas,

Mato Grosso do Sul Mato Grosso do Sul ( ) is one of Federative units of Brazil, Brazil's 27 federal units, located in the southern part of the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region, bordering five Brazilian states: Mato Grosso (to the north), Goiás and ...

, Barbosa won the silver medal at the 1991 World Championships in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. A few weeks before, Barbosa had won the 800 m race at the prestigious

Letzigrund Letzigrund () is a stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, the home of the football (soccer), football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich, as well as the Sport of athletics, athletics club . The original stadium was constructed by members of FC ...

meeting in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He travelled to Tokyo as the favourite but lost to

Billy Konchellah Billy Komintai Konchellah (born 20 October 1961 in Kilgoris, Kenya) is a former 800 m runner who won two World Championship gold medals in Rome in 1987 and Tokyo in 1991. Career His victory in the 1991 final was unexpected. He sprinted past P ...

from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, who overtook him on the home straight. Shortly after the championships, Barbosa ran the fastest time of the year in Rieti, where he clocked 1 minute 43.08 secs. This remained his personal best throughout the remainder of his career. A year later he placed fourth in the Olympic final. Earlier in his career, Barbosa had won a bronze medal at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, and finished sixth in the 800 m final at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. Barbosa celebrated his greatest indoor success at the

1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 1st IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in Indianapolis, United States from March 6 to March 8, 1987. The championship had previously been known as the World Indoor Games, which were held once before changing the name. Bein ...

in Indianapolis, where he won gold over 800 m. At the

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, ...

in Toronto he entered the 800 m final as a favourite but dropped out after colliding with Nico Motchebon. Barbosa was head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon for 5 1/2 years. Barbosa was also the Men's Cross Country and Track and Field coach for Mesa College in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. On December 1, 2021, he was named the Cross Country and track assistant coach at Bellevue University Nebraska.

Competition record

Personal bests

Outdoor *

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

– 45.9h (Sǎo Paulo 1983) *

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

– 1:43.08 (Rieti 1991) *

1000 metres The 1000 metres, 1 kilometer run, or 1K run is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. It consists of two and a half laps around an outdoor 400 m track, or five laps around an indoor 200 m track. The 1000 ...

– 2:17.36 (Nice 1985) *

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

– 3:37.04 (Grosseto 1991) Indoor *

600 metres The 600 metres is a rarely run middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. It is most often run at high school indoor track and field competitions. It is also run at the Penn Relays. All-time top 25 * i = indoor performa ...

– 1:16.82 (Karlsruhe 1986) *

– 1:45.43 (Piraeus 1989) *

– 2:20.77 (Madrid 1989)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbosa, Jose Luiz 1961 births Living people People from Três Lagoas Sportspeople from Mato Grosso do Sul Brazilian male middle-distance runners Brazilian male sprinters Olympic male middle-distance runners Olympic male sprinters Olympic athletes for Brazil Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games athletes for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Brazil World Athletics Championships medalists Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Japan Championships in Athletics winners Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Troféu Brasil de Atletismo winners