João Rodrigues (sailor)

João Filipe Gaspar Rodrigues (born 2 November 1971) is a Portuguese windsurfer. He competed in every Summer Olympic Games from 1992 to 2016 with the best result of sixth place in 2004.[1]

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Gaspar and the second or paternal family name is Rodrigues.

João Rodrigues
Rodrigues at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Born (1971-11-02) 2 November 1971
Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal[1]
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportWindsurfing
ClubCentro de Treino de Mar[3]
Medal record
Representing  Portugal
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Port Elizabeth Mistral
Silver medal – second place 2008 Auckland Neil Pryde RS:X
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Brest Mistral
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Nice Mistral
Gold medal – first place 1997 Murcia Mistral
Gold medal – first place 2008 Brest Neil Pryde RS:X
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Mondello Mistral

Rodrigues started sailing aged nine and racing competitively at the age of eleven; in 1987 he was included to the national team.[3] In 1995, he won his first major title at the Mistral World Championships, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The same year he also graduated from a five-year course in engineering and was awarded the Nobre Guedes Olympic Medal by the Portuguese Olympic Committee.[3] In the following two years, Rodrigues won the European Championships in the Mistral class. In May 2008, he added a third European title to his record, this time in the Neil Pryde RS:X class.

Rodrigues won a silver medal in the masters fleet at the 2009 IWA Junior, Youth and Masters World championships which took place at Weymouth and Portland sailing academy which is the venue for the windsurfing and sailing at the 2012 Olympic games.

In 2011 Rodrigues completed the longest non-stop ocean crossing on a windsurfing board when he sailed 160 nautical miles from Madeira to Selvagem Grande. He did it to celebrate his 40th birthday and attract attention to the Parque Natural de Madeira, Portugal's oldest national park. His brother Luís competed for Portugal in sailing at the 2012 World Championships.[3]

Olympics

Despite being the most physical of sailing discipline his biggest achievement is the length of his professional windsurfing career competing in seven consecutive Worlds over a 24-year span. He was Team Portugal national flag bearer in the 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations.[4]

YearVenueEquipmentEventPos.Notes
1992BarcelonaMale WindsurferLechner23
1996SavannahMale WindsurferMistral7
2000SydneyMale WindsurferMistral18
2004AthensMale WindsurferMistral6
2008QingdoaMale WindsurferRS:X11
2012PortlandMale WindsurferRS:X14
2016RioMale WindsurferRS:X11

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "João Rodrigues". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
  2. "Joao Rodrigues". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  3. João Rodrigues. nbcolympics.com
  4. "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". 16 August 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
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