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 eve ...

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,

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, and European 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. Found ...

. 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. 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 essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

Sports career

He competed in the triple jump in the 2004 Olympics, 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 I ...

. He finished fourth in the triple jump final and sixth in the long jump final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, having set a Portuguese triple jump record of 17.23 metres during the qualification. At the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships 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 ...

, 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, in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, by jumping 17.27 metres. On 21 August 2008, he edged out Phillips Idowu of Great Britain and Leevan Sands 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 North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

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) * Ar ...

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 ...

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 List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, 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 football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

from 2004 to 2016 and Sporting Clube de Portugal from 2016 to 2020. Since 2020 he is an athlete of

Personal bests

* High jump – 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 ...

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

Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (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