Martinho de Araújo, born 26 July 1973 in Dili, is an

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

ese weightlifter. He was one of the first sportspeople to represent East Timor at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, when he took part in weightlifting events at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

. A resident of Dili, he fled his home in 1999 after East Timor's declaration of independence from Indonesia, and the ensuing violence. He subsequently returned to find that his weightlifting training equipment had been stolen or rendered unusable in looting and arson. In order to continue training, de Araújo "improvised with metal rods stuck into paint cans that had been filled with cement." In Sydney, he lifted 67.5 kg in the snatch and 90 kg in the clean and jerk, finishing last. ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...

'' commented: "He wasn't exactly crushed by it. Chances are none of the other competitors had to make their own weights and barbells to train.""Undaunted spirit of East Timor's Olympic athletes"
''Newday'', October 1, 2004

References

External links

* 1973 births Living people Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic weightlifters for East Timor People from Dili Weightlifters at the 2002 Asian Games East Timorese male weightlifters Asian Games competitors for East Timor {{EastTimor-weightlifting-bio-stub