Albertina Dias

Maria Albertina da Costa Dias Pereira (born 26 April 1965 in Miragaia) is a former Portuguese long-distance runner. She competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, starting in 1988. She was the first female Portuguese world champion in cross country running, having won the long race at the 1993 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[1]

Albertina Dias
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Portugal
World Cross Country Championships
Silver medal – second place1990 Aix-les-BainsLong race
Bronze medal – third place1990 Aix-les-BainsTeam long race
Bronze medal – third place1992 BostonLong race
Gold medal – first place1993 AmorebietaLong race
Gold medal – first place1994 BudapestTeam long race

Career

She finished tenth in the 10,000 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics.[2] Her first real successes came in cross country running: she won the long race individual silver and the team bronze at the 1990 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[3] Dias won the Eurocross meeting in 1991[4] and went on to take sixth place at the 1991 Cross Country Championships. Competing at the world indoors for the first time, she finished in fourth place in the 3000 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. At her first outdoor World Championships in Athletics in 1991, she failed to finish in the 10,000 metres final. Her second world medal, a bronze, came at the 1992 IAAF World Cross Country Championships long race.[2]

Dias attended her second Olympics, the 1992 Barcelona Games and finished in 13th at the 10,000 metres final.[2] She won the 1993 IAAF World Cross Country Championships long race the following year, becoming the first Portuguese woman to ever complete the feat.[3] She won the Olympic Medal Nobre Guedes as a result. She failed to match this feat at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics as she finished seventh in the 10,000 m.[2] A fifth-place finish at the 1994 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was enough for a team gold with Portugal, led by Conceição Ferreira.[3] She began competing in the half marathon and took fourth place at the 1994 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.[2]

She took part in her third World Athletics Championships but again failed to finish the 10,000 metres final at the 1995 Championships.[2] After a fifth-place finish at the 1996 European Cross Country Championships, she ran in her third Olympics for Portugal – this time in the Olympic marathon race. She finished in 27th place, out-performed by compatriot Manuela Machado, who took 7th.

An eleventh place at the 1998 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships[2] and seventh place with a team gold at the 1998 European Cross Country Championships brought a close to her career.

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Portugal
1988 World Cross Country Championships Auckland, New Zealand — DNF
Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 10th 10,000m 32:07.13
1989 World Cross Country Championships Stavanger, Norway 18th
1990 World Cross Country Championships Aix-les-Bains, France 2nd
1991 World Indoor Championships Seville, Spain 4th 3000 m 8:55.45
World Cross Country Championships Antwerp, Belgium 6th
World Championships Tokyo, Japan — 10,000m DNF
1992 World Cross Country Championships Boston, United States 3rd
Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 13th 10,000m 32.03.93
1993 World Cross Country Championships Amorebieta, Spain 1st
World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 7th 10,000m 31:33.03
1994 World Cross Country Championships Budapest, Hungary 5th
World Half Marathon Championships Oslo, Norway 4th 1:09:57
1995 World Cross Country Championships Durham, United Kingdom 9th
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden — 10,000m DNF
1996 World Cross Country Championships Cape Town, South Africa 31st
Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 27th Marathon 2:36:39
1998 World Half Marathon Championships Uster, Switzerland 11th 1:11:08

References
  1. IAAF World Crosscountry Championships. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2009-06-24). Retrieved on 2010-03-04.
  2. Albertina Dias at World Athletics
  3. World and World Student Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-03-02.
  4. Civai, Franco & Gasparovic, Juraj (2009-02-28). Eurocross 10.2 km (men) + 5.3 km (women). Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2010-03-01.
General
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