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Adhemar Ferreira da Silva

Adhemar da Silva
Adhemar da Silva 1956.jpg
Personal information
Full name Adhemar Ferreira da Silva
Born (1927-09-29)September 29, 1927
São Paulo, Brazil
Died January 12, 2001(2001-01-12) (aged 73)
São Paulo, Brazil
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Triple jump, long jump
Club São Paulo FC
Vasco da Gama, Rio de Janeiro
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) TJ - 16.56 m (1955)
LJ - 6.93 m (1951)
Updated on 13 June 2015.

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (September 29, 1927 – January 12, 2001) was a Brazilian triple jumper. He won two Olympic gold medals and set four world records in athletics, the last being 16.56 metres in 1955 Pan American Games. In his early career he also competed in the long jump, placing fourth at the 1951 Pan American Games.

Da Silva was born in São Paulo, in a poor family, and began competing in the triple jump in 1947. Under the coaching of German Dietrich Gerner, he soon showed his talent, breaking the national record and qualifying for the Brazilian team to 1948 Olympics, where he placed only 8th. However, at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, he became a two-time Olympic champion and world record holder and the only Brazilian athlete to have won gold in two consecutive Olympics until the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. There, the Brazilian women's volleyball squad defended their title, obtained four years earlier in Beijing, making six of their members consecutive Olympic champions (Jaqueline Carvalho, Sheilla Castro, Fabiana Claudino, Thaísa Menezes, Fabiana Oliveira and Paula Pequeno).

He was a member of the São Paulo Futebol Clube, and because of him, the team coat has two gold stars above the emblem. He also competed for Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama from 1955 to 1959.

In 1959, da Silva acted in the film Orfeu Negro, portraying Death. It won the Golden Palm of the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


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