Rui Manuel Monteiro Silva (born 3 August 1977) is a Portuguese track and field athlete and coach who represents S.L. Benfica. As a distance runner, he specializes at the 1500 and 3000 m events, although he has at times run the 800 metres as well. Silva is the current national champion at 1500 m.
Biography Silva was the Olympic bronze medalist at Athens in 2004, where he went from last place to third place in less than 400 meters, his last lap being in 51.3 seconds. His last 800 meters of that race were run in 1:46.3, believed to be the second-fastest final 800 metres of any 1500-meter race in history (behind Abdi Bile's 1:46.0 at the 1987 World Championships). Injuries prevented him from participating in various international competitions from 2007 to 2009.
In addition to his Olympic medal, he won the 1500 m bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has had much success indoors over 1500 m, having won the World Indoor title in 2001 and taken the European Indoor title on three occasions.
Running in the European Cross Country, he came third running an even-paced race with a fast finish to claim the bronze position. The race was over 10 kilometres and was run at a very quick pace throughout. He began to move up in distance from 2009 onwards. He ran in the 5000 m and 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, being eliminated in the heats in shorter distance, but coming eleventh over the 10,000 m. He competed at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March 2012 and was the first Portuguese home in fourth place with a personal best of 1:02:40 hours.Fernandes, António Manuel (25 March 2012). Tadese collects third consecutive win in Lisbon. IAAF. Retrieved on 26 March 2012.
His daughter is middle-distance runner, Patricia Silva. Patricia won a bronze medal at the women's 800m event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in 2025.
Competition record Representing 1995European Junior ChampionshipsNyíregyháza, Hungary8th1500 m3:50.751996World Junior ChampionshipsSydney, Australia6th1500 m3:41.811998European Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain1st1500 m3:44.57European ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary2nd1500 m3:41.841999World Indoor ChampionshipsMaebashi, Japan5th1500 m3:34.99European U23 ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden1st1500 m3:44.29World ChampionshipsSeville, Spain22nd (sf)1500 m3:50.852000European Indoor ChampionshipsGhent, Belgium2nd3000 m7:49.70Olympic GamesSydney, Australia32nd (h)1500 m3:41.932001World Indoor ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal1st1500 m3:51.06World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada7th1500 m3:35.742002European Indoor ChampionshipsVienna, Austria1st1500 m3:49.93European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany3rd1500 m3:45.432003World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom20th (h)1500 m3:48.41World ChampionshipsParis, France5th1500 m3:33.682004World Indoor ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary2nd3000 m7:57.08Olympic GamesAthens, Greece3rd1500 m3:34.682005World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland3rd1500 m3:38.022009European Indoor ChampionshipsTurin, Italy1st1500 m3:44.38Lusophony GamesLisbon, Portugal2nd800 m1:49.03World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany23rd (sf)1500 m3:41.302011European Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France6th3000 m7:59.49World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea22nd (h)5000 m13:50.1611th10,000 m28:48.622012Lisbon Half MarathonLisbon, Portugal4thHalf marathon1:02:40
References
External links
Yahoo Sports profile of Rui Silva Association of the Portuguese Olympic Athletes (AAOP)