Ronaldo da Costa

Ronaldo da Costa (born 7 June 1970) is a Brazilian former long-distance runner and former world-record holder for the marathon distance.

Career

Da Costa broke the ten-year-old marathon world record in 1998 in Berlin, having been fifth-placed in the previous year. The record had been held by Belayneh Densamo from Ethiopia at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 1988.^[1] The record fell in the following year, almost eleven months later. During his record run Da Costa also was the first man to officially reach the 40 km mark under two hours. He arrived at the 40K split in 1:59:55.^[2]

The youngest of eleven children, Da Costa became a national hero after winning the internationally competed São Silvestre Brazilian road race (15 km) in 1994. The same year he won the 5,000 m in the Ibero-American Championships entered by south-western European, Central and Southern American countries. From 1997, aged 27, until 2003 Da Costa achieved top-20 results in four marathons, however unlike most marathon record holders, did not win any international marathons apart from his world-record-breaking run.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Brazil
1993	South American Championships	Lima, Peru	1st	5000 m	13:58.7
1994	World Half Marathon Championships	Oslo, Norway	3rd	Half marathon	60:00.54
	Ibero-American Championships	Mar del Plata, Argentina	1st	5000m	13:47.99
	Ibero-American Championships	Mar del Plata, Argentina	2nd	10,000m	28:18.26
1995	Pan American Games	Mar del Plata, Argentina	7th	5000 m	14:01.47
	Pan American Games	Mar del Plata, Argentina	3rd	10,000 m	29:07.68
	South American Championships	Manaus, Brazil	1st	5000 m	13:51.66
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia	16th	10,000 m	29:26.58
1997	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	5th	Marathon	2:09:07
1998	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	1st	Marathon	2:06:05 WR
1998	World Half Marathon Championships	Uster, Switzerland	12th	Half marathon	61:04.54
1999	London Marathon	London, England	17th	Marathon	2:14:10
2002	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	16th	Marathon	2:12:52
2003	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	17th	Marathon	2:20:57