Wania Monteiro (born 9 August 1986) is a

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

Biography

Born 9 August 1986 in Santa Catarina,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, she lived in Praia for a while. She is trained by Elena Atmacheva. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' noted that she often trained "in a dilapidated gym with ceilings too low to accommodate a proper hoop or ball toss", due to a lack of adequate facilities in Cape Verde. She later moved to the USA for her studies.

Sports career

Monteiro represented her country at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, and was Cape Verde's flag bearer during the Games's opening ceremony. She was also the first gymnast from Cape Verde to compete in the Olympic Games. In 2006, she won four medals at the African Gymnastics Championships, three bronze and one gold, being present on all podiums during this competition. Monteiro competed again at the

2008 Summer 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 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

, and was, again, her country's

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

during the Games'

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. She finished 24th, with 49.050 points.

References

External links

Video of Monteiro's performance in Athens
on CNN's website * * * 1986 births Living people Cape Verdean rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Cape Verde People from Santa Catarina, Cape Verde {{rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub