Lidiane Lopes (born 1 September 1994) is a Cape Verdean sprinter who specialises in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. She is the current Cape Verdean record holder in the 100-metre sprint. Lopes has competed at both the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and 2016 Summer Olympics. At both Olympics, she competed in the 100 metres. She has also competed in a

World Championships 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, ...

, a World Junior Championships, a World Youth Championships, a

Jeux de la Francophonie The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...

, a

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 o ...

, an

African Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (A ...

, and an Ibero-American Athletics Championships.

Competition

2011–12

Lopes' debut at an international athletics competition was at the 2011 World Youth Championships, where she competed in the

. She finished last in her heat and ran a personal best time of 26.69 seconds. She did not progress to the semi-final round. She then competed at the 2012 World Junior Championships in the

. She was disqualified from her heat and therefore did not race again at the competition.

2012 Summer Olympics

Lopes' next major competition was the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She qualified and competed in the

. For the preliminary round, she was drawn in heat four. In the heat of nine athletes, Lopes finished fourth in a time of 12.72 seconds. She was 1.12 seconds slower than the heat winner, Toea Wisil of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Overall, Lopes' time was the 17th fastest in the preliminary round. She did not progress to the heat round proper. By competing at the 2012 Games, she became the youngest Cape Verdean to compete at an Olympic Games at an age of 17 years and 337 days.

2013–16

At the

2013 Jeux de la Francophonie The 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie, also known as ''VIIèmes Jeux de la Francophonie'' (French for ''7th Francophone Games''), were held in Nice, France, from September 6-15. This was the second edition of the games to be hosted in France and the f ...

, Lopes competed in both the

and

. In the 100 metres she ran a time of 12.85 seconds and finished second last overall with Dianne Audrey Nioze of Seychelles the only athlete slower than her. Lopes did not progress to the final. In the 200 metres, Lopes came last in a time of 26.17 seconds and did not qualify for the final. At the

2014 Lusophony Games The 2014 Lusophone Games was the 3rd edition of the Lusophone Games, a multi-sport event that represent athletes from Portuguese-speaking countries and territories. It was held from 18 to 29 January 2014 in the Indian state of Goa. Brazil and Sr ...

, Lopes finished fourth in the

; in a time of 12.49 seconds; and she won the silver medal in the

; in a time of 25.07 seconds. In her medal winning event, the 200 metres, she finished 0.07 seconds behind Indian Rengitha Chellah. The 2015 World Championships was Lopes' first senior World Championships. She competed in the

and finished last in her heat with a Cape Verdean national record time of 12.43 seconds. Overall, she was the 49th fastest out of 53 athletes and she did not progress to the semi-final round. At the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

, Lopes finished 27th overall in the

in a time of 12.55 seconds and 29th overall in the

in a time of 25.53 seconds. Lopes' next major competition was the 2016 Ibero-American Athletics Championships. She competed in the

and finished last overall in a time of 12.67 seconds.

2016 Summer Olympics

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Lopes competed in the

. For the preliminary round, she was drawn in heat two, a heat containing seven other athletes alongside Lopes. In the race on 12 August 2016, she ran a time of 12.38 seconds. Lopes' time was a new Cape Verdean national record. After the race she told '' Ocean Press'': "I have no words. I'm very happy". Lopes' time was the 9th fastest out of 24 athletes in the preliminary round; her time was 0.04 seconds slower than the slowest athlete to progress to the next round and, therefore, she was eliminated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Lidiane 1994 births Living people Cape Verdean female sprinters Olympic athletes of Cape Verde Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Cape Verde People from Sal, Cape Verde African Games competitors for Cape Verde Olympic female sprinters