15 Facts About Joaquim Cruz

Joaquim Carvalho Cruz was born on 12 March 1963 and is a Brazilian former middle-distance runner, winner of the 800 meters at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Joaquim Cruz is one of only ten men, and in August 1984 became the second man, to run the 800 metres in less than 1 minute 42 seconds.

The move immediately paid off, and Cruz won the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships over 800 m that same year.

Joaquim Cruz competed in the inaugural World Championships in 1983, winning the bronze.

The 1984 Summer Olympic Games were held in Los Angeles, and Joaquim Cruz was considered to be one of the 800 m favorites, along with world record holder Sebastian Coe of Great Britain.

Joaquim Cruz crossed the line in 1:43.00, breaking Alberto Juantorena's Olympic Record and making him the first Brazilian Olympic athletics gold medalist since triple jumper Adhemar Ferreira da Silva won both in 1952 and 1956.

Later that week, after winning his first round heat of the Olympic 1500 m, Joaquim Cruz did not start in the semi-finals due to a cold.

Two days later he ran a 1:42.41 at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels, and then two days after that, at a meeting in Cologne, Joaquim Cruz ran the second fastest 800 meters in history at the time, his time of 1:41.77 being only four hundredths of a second outside Coe's world record from June 1981.

Joaquim Cruz is the tenth fastest athlete in the history of the event.

In 1985 Joaquim Cruz won six of his eight 800 meter races, the last three of which were won under 1:43: 1:42.98 at ISTAF, 1:42.53 in Cologne, and 1:42.49 in Koblenz.

Joaquim Cruz ran the world's 3rd fastest 1,000 meter time for 1985, a 2:15.11.

Troubled by Achilles' tendon injuries, Joaquim Cruz was never again able to reach the international top level.

One year later, taking part at his third Olympics at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Joaquim Cruz was the Brazilian flag-bearer and ran the 1500 meters without reaching the finals.

Joaquim Cruz competed at the 2001 Masters West Region Track and Field Championship winning the 5000 meter run at age 38.

Joaquim Cruz was the last torchbearer and lit the flame cauldron at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, on 13 July 2007.