Maria Laura Almirão (born September 20, 1977 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

) is a Brazilian sprinter, who specialized in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. She is a two-time Olympian and a five-time medalist for the 400 metres and sprint relay at the

Ibero-American Championships The Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') is a biennial athletics competition for athletes representing Ibero-American countries as well as a number of other Spanish- or Portuguese-spea ...

. Almirao qualified for the women's 400 metres at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by winning the gold medal from the

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. She finished fifth in the second heat of the event by six hundredths of a second (0.06) behind Jamaica's Nadia Davy, with a time of 52.10 seconds. Almirao eventually joined the national sprint team for the women's 4 × 400 m relay, along with her compatriots

Josiane Tito Josiane da Silva Tito (born August 8, 1979, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian sprinter and middle-distance runner. Career She set a personal best time of 2:01.28 for the 800 metres at the 2007 Pan American Games, coincidentally in her home city. ...

, Lucimar Teodoro, and Geisa Coutinho. She and her team placed sixth on the second heat of the relay, for a seasonal best time of 3:28.43. At the

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

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Almirao competed again for the second time in individual and relay sprint events. For her first event,

, Almirao ran in the fourth heat against six other athletes, including Great Britain's

Christine Ohuruogu Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion. The Olympic champion in 2008, and silver medali ...

, who eventually became an Olympic champion in the final. She finished the race again in fifth place by more than two seconds behind Ohuruogu, with a time of 53.26. Few days later, Almirao reunited with her teammates Lucimar Teodoro,

, and Emmily Pinheiro for the women's 4 × 400 m relay. She ran on the starting leg of the second heat, with an individual-split time of 53.49 seconds. Almirao and her team finished the relay in sixth place for a total time of 3:30.10, failing to advance into the final. Almirao is also a full-time member of Associação Profissional BMF in

São Caetano do Sul São Caetano do Sul (; " Saint Cajetan of the South"), or simply São Caetano, is a city in São Paulo state in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 161,957 (2020 est.) in an area of 15.33 km2. It is ...

, being coached and trained by Japanese-born Katsuhito Nakaya.

References

External links

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Profile – UOL Esporte

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almirao, Maria Laura Athletes from São Paulo 1977 births Brazilian female sprinters Living people Olympic athletes for Brazil Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen Troféu Brasil de Atletismo winners