Nelson Évora GCIH (born 20 April 1984) is an Ivory Coast-born Portuguese

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specializes in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. Évora is a former outdoor

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, and

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

triple jump champion. He has also won a European indoor title and the World indoor tour in triple jump. Évora competes at national level for Portugal and at club level for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He represented Cape Verde until 2002, when he got Portuguese citizenship in June that year.

Biography

Born in Ouragahio, Ivory Coast, where his parents had come to live from Cape Verde, Évora and his family moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

when he was five years old.Top sportsmen find support in faith
Baha'i World News Service. 11 August 2004 He still holds the Cape Verdean records in both the long jump (7.57 m) and the triple jump (16.15 m). Évora's family settled in

Odivelas Odivelas ( or ) is a city and a municipality in Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal, in the Lisbon District and the historical and cultural Estremadura Province. The municipality is located 10 km northwest of Lisbon. The present Mayor is Hugo ...

, on the floor above João Ganço's—a former Portugal record-holder and the first Portuguese to pass over 2 meters in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

. Davide Ganço, one of João Ganço's three sons and one year older than Évora, became his best friend. One day, João Ganço, seeing them playing in the street, suggested that Évora started practising athletics, following Davide's example, and, just like that, Évora's sportive career started. João then became his coach. Évora is a member of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

Sports career

He competed in the triple jump in the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, without progressing from his pool, and finished sixth at the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena. The announcement by the IA ...

. He finished fourth in the triple jump final and sixth in the long jump final at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, having set a Portuguese triple jump record of 17.23 metres during the qualification. At the

2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007. Birmingham also held the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Men's results Track ...

he came in fifth place. On 27 August 2007, Évora became the triple jump world champion at the 2007 World Championships, in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan, establishing his personal best (Portuguese national record until May 2018) and second best world mark of the year at 17.74 metres. On 9 March 2008, Évora placed third in the triple jump competition at the

2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Luis Puig Palace in Valencia, Spain, March 7–9, 2008. Bid Valencia was announced the winning bidder by the IAAF on November 13, 2005 at an IAAF Council meeting in Moscow, R ...

, in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, by jumping 17.27 metres. On 21 August 2008, he edged out

Phillips Idowu Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialises in the triple jump. He is a former World Outdoor and Indoor, European Outdoor and Indoor, and Commonwealth triple jump champion. He was also a silver meda ...

of Great Britain and

Leevan Sands Leevan Sands (born August 16, 1981 Nassau) is a Bahamian triple jumper. His personal best jump is 17.59 metres, achieved in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. This is the current Bahamian record and won a bronze medal. He also won bronze medals ...

of the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

to take an Olympic gold medal with a 17.67 metres jump. Évora set the world leading mark at the

Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroi ...

in May 2009, winning with 17.66 m. He was pleased with the jump (his third best performance ever) and stated his intention to surpass the 18 metre mark at the forthcoming 2009 World Championships. In mid-2009, he won the triple jump gold at the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

and another at the

2009 Lusophony Games The 2009 Lusophony Games was the 2nd Lusophony Games ( pt, 2.os Jogos da Lusofonia), a multi-sport event for delegations representing Portuguese-speaking National Olympic committees. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 11 to 19 July 2009. The ...

. However he was unable to replicate his winning form at the 2009 World Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, being relegated to second place. After leading with a first round jump of 17.55 m, the man he beat in the Olympics, Phillips Idowu, was able to take the gold with a third round jump of 17.73 m, the longest in the world for that year. Évora represented F. C. Porto from 2002 to 2004,

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

from 2004 to 2016 and

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

from 2016 to 2020. Since 2020 he is an athlete of

Personal bests

High jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

– 2.07 m (2005) *

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

– 8.10 m (2007) *

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

– 17.74 m (2007)

International competitions

Orders

PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of ...

(Portugal, 27 May 2015) * POR Ordem do Merito Gra-Cruz BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

(Portugal, 30 August 2018)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evora, Nelson 1984 births Living people Portuguese male long jumpers Portuguese male triple jumpers Cape Verdean emigrants to Portugal People from Odivelas Portuguese people of Ivorian descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Portugal Olympic athletes of Portugal Portuguese Bahá'ís Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Bahá'ís World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics S.L. Benfica athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for Portugal Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic male triple jumpers Universiade gold medalists for Portugal European Athletics Championships winners Black Portuguese sportspeople World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade