Vera Lúcia Montez dos Santos (born 3 December 1981 in Santarém,

Lezíria do Tejo The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Lezíria do Tejo (; English: ''Tagus Floodplain'') is an administrative division in Portugal. It was established as an ''Associação de Municípios'' in 1987, converted into a ''Comunidade Urbana'' in 2003, and co ...

) is a Portuguese

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

. She began racing at the senior international level in 2002, taking part in the

2002 European Athletics Championships The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was p ...

. Her first major medal was a silver at the

2003 European Athletics U23 Championships The 4th European Athletics U23 Championships were held in Bydgoszcz, Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 17 and 20 July 2003. Results Complete results and medal winners were published. Men's Women's †: In the ...

and she went on to compete at that year's

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

. Santos finished 15th at the 2005 World Championships but managed a silver at the

2005 Summer Universiade The 2005 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXIII Summer Universiade, took place in İzmir, Turkey, in August. Emblem The emblem is the letter “U”, inspired by the bird's-eye view of the Gulf of İzmir. This shape has perfectly fit the lett ...

. She won the bronze at the

2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup The 2008 IAAF World Race Walking Cup was held on 10 and 11 May 2008 in the streets of Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic, Chuvashia, Russia. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results was given for the IAAF. Complete result ...

and then went on to finish ninth in a then personal best time at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

later that year. She put in the highest-ranking performance at the 2009 World Championships, taking fifth place. Santos won her first national racewalking title in 2005 and became a two-time national champion in 2010 with a win at the Meeting de Marcha Atlética da Cidade de Olhao. She took another victory on home turf soon after, winning the Grande Premio Internacional en Marcha Atletica in Rio Maior. She led the race throughout, holding off China's Li Yanfei, and after the win she began

altitude training Altitude training is the practice by some endurance athletes of training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably over above sea level, though more commonly at intermediate altitudes due to the shortage of suitable high-altitude locations. A ...

to prepare for the upcoming World Race Walking Cup. She took her third circuit win of the year at the

Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni The Coppa Città di Sesto San Giovanni is an annual racewalking competition that takes place on 1 May in Sesto San Giovanni in Italy. It is an elite level event which features a men's and a women's race in the 20 kilometres race walk. Organised b ...

.Sampaolo, Diego (2010-05-02)
Schwazer and Santos dominate in Sesto San Giovanni - IAAF Race Walking Challenge

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-05-02. She competed at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2014, she set a new personal best of 1:28:02 at the

World Race Walking Cup The World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships is a racewalking event organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It has been held since 1961, and generally on a biennial basis. Women first entered the 1979 edition. ...

Taicang Taicang is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The city located in the south of the Yangtze River estuary opposite Nantong, being bordered by Shanghai proper to the south, while the river also delineates ...

, finishing in 11th place.

Achievements

References

External links

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sports-reference

1981 births Living people People from Santarém, Portugal Portuguese female racewalkers Olympic athletes of Portugal Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Portugal Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Portugal Medalists at the 2005 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from Santarém District {{portugal-athletics-bio-stub