Raphael Fernandes (born 8 November 1984) is a Brazilian

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 competes in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. His personal best for the event is 49.29 seconds, set in 2007. He represented his country at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

. Fernandes won two gold medals at the

2007 South American Championships in Athletics The 2007 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estádio Ícaro de Castro Mello in São Paulo, Brazil from 7 June to 9 June 2007. A total of 44 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. Continuing in ...

and also reached the podium at that competition in 2006 and 2009. He was the winner of the 400 m hurdles at the

2011 Military World Games The 2011 Military World Games ( pt, Jogos Mundiais Militares de 2011), officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games ( pt, V Jogos Mundiais Militares do CISM), was hosted from July 15–24, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 5th Military ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and has also won medals at the

Lusophony Games The Lusofonia Games ( pt, Jogos da Lusofonia) is a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Most countries competing are countries that are members of ...

and the

South American Games The South American Games (also known as ODESUR Games; Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos''), formerly the Southern Cross Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Cruz del Sur'') is a regional multi-sport event held between nati ...

Career

Born in

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 844,483 (2020 est.) in an area of . History The city was founded b ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, he is trained by former South American record holder

Sanderlei Parrela Sanderlei Claro Parrela (born October 7, 1974 in Santos) is a former Brazilian sprinter. Career With a personal best of 44.29 seconds he is the South American record holder at 400 metres. He won a silver medal in this event at the 1999 World ...

. His first success in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

came as a youth as he won the

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

2002 South American Games The VII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held in 2002 in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, and Belém; all in Brazil. The Games were organized by the South ...

and the 2002

South American Junior Athletics Championships The South American U20 Championships in Athletics are the South American championships in the sport of athletics which is open for those in the junior age category (19 years or under). It is organized by the South American Athletics Confederation (C ...

. The following year he was runner-up to fellow Brazilian Ricardo da Silva at the South American Juniors and was fourth at the

2003 Pan American Junior Championships The 12th Pan American Junior Athletics Championships were held in Bridgetown, Barbados at the National Stadium on 18–20 July 2003. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt had the outstanding performance equalling the 200m World Junior record, while the te ...

, beaten to a medal by

Javier Culson Javier Culson Pérez (born 25 July 1984) is a Puerto Rican athlete and Olympiad bronze medalist who specialises in the 400-metre hurdles. After becoming involved with the discipline in his late teen years, he entered the podium in some regiona ...

. He ran a personal best of 50.04 seconds to win his first senior national title in the 400 m hurdles in 2004.Brazilian championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2011-08-20. That same year he was third at the South American Under 23 Athletics Championships. In 2005 he ran under 50 seconds for the 400 m hurdles for the first time, clocking 49.89 sec in the heats of the Brazilian championships, but he was beaten to the national title by Tiago Bueno. He began his 2006 season by winning the South American University Games title. He was the runner-up nationally that year and gained his first senior level medals: he was the hurdles

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

list at the

2006 South American Championships in Athletics The 2006 in athletics (track and field), 2006 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio La Independencia in Tunja, Colombia from 29 September to 1 October. The competition represented a departure from the traditional bienn ...

and helped Brazil to the

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

title. At the first

he took the hurdles silver and won a further gold medal in the relay; an achievement he repeated at the

2006 South American Games The VIII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, ...

the following month. Fernandes reached new heights in 2007, setting a

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 (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

sprint best of 46.56 seconds and a 400 m hurdles best of 49.29 seconds to win his second national title in the event.Raphael Fernandes
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2011-08-20. He was a double gold medallist at the

, winning both the hurdles and relay titles, and made his global debut at the

(though he was knocked out in the heats stage). He also represented Brazil at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

(where he was a finalist) and the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, ...

. After a low-key 2008, in which he failed to run under 50 seconds and was sixth nationally, he returned to the international podium in 2009, coming second at the

2009 South American Championships in Athletics The 2009 South American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''2009 Campeonatos Sudamericanos'') was the forty sixth edition of the tournament and was held between 19 and 21 June in Lima, Peru. Brazil dominated the tournament, easily finishing w ...

and taking the hurdles gold 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 ...

. Injuries ruled him out for most of 2010. The

saw Fernandes win his first global level medal as he held off Víctor Solarte to claim the hurdles gold.Men's 400 m hurdles results
Rio2011. Retrieved on 2011-08-20.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Raphael Living people 1984 births Brazilian male hurdlers Sportspeople from São Bernardo do Campo South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2002 South American Games Competitors at the 2006 South American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games athletes for Brazil Troféu Brasil de Atletismo winners Military World Games gold medalists for Brazil Military World Games medalists in athletics (track and field)