Almir Cunha dos Santos (born 4 September 1993) is a Brazilian male track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump and long jump. He was a silver medallist in the triple jump at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2018.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 September 1993 Matupá, Mato Grosso, Brazil[1] |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [1] |
| Weight | 56 kg (123 lb) [1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Triple jump Long jump |
Medal record | |
Athletic career
Born in Matupá, in the central state of Mato Grosso, he took up athletics at a young age, initially focusing on the high jump. He moved to Porto Alegre and had his first success at the 2010 South American Youth Championships in Athletics, where he took the gold medal.[2][3] He tried out the long jump, clearing 7.26 m (23 ft 9+3⁄4 in) in 2011 and competing in qualifying at the 2012 World Junior Championships, but remained focused on the high jump until 2014 – a season in which he set a personal best of 2.18 m (7 ft 1+3⁄4 in).[4]
After little progress in the high jump in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, he returned to the long jump in 2017. He came away with an improved best of 7.96 m (26 ft 1+1⁄4 in) and a fifth-place finish at the South American Championships.[5] However, it was the triple jump in which he showed the most promise that year, setting a best of 16.86 m (55 ft 3+3⁄4 in) in his hometown of Porto Alegre.[4]
He indicated himself as an elite jumper in the 2018 season, starting with a jump of 17.06 m (55 ft 11+1⁄2 in) at an American meeting in Kent, Ohio.[6] He backed this up with a performance at the top level Madrid Indoor Meeting in February, winning with a world-leading mark of 17.35 m (56 ft 11 in) ahead of former world and Olympic champion Nelson Évora.[7] These performances qualified him for the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships, and in the final, he took the lead in round two with a clearance of 17.22 m (56 ft 5+3⁄4 in). He improved further to 17.41 m (57 ft 1+1⁄4 in), two centimetres short of the new leader Will Claye, and left with a silver medal from his senior global debut.[8]
After 2018, Almir dos Santos had a series of injuries, and only in 2022 he returned to compete at a high level, reaching the final of the triple jump at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, finishing in 7th place.[9]
In july 2023, at the 2023 South American Championships in Athletics, qualified for the 2023 World Championships and for the 2024 Olympic Games in the triple jump, by jumping 17.24m.[10]
At the 2024 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, held in Cuiabá, he broke the competition record and confirmed the Olympic index to compete in the triple jump in Paris, jumping 17.31m.[11]
International competitions
Personal bests
- High jump – 2.18 m (7 ft 1+3⁄4 in) (2014)
- Long jump – 7.96 m (26 ft 1+1⁄4 in) (2017)
- Triple jump – 17.53 m (57 ft 6 in) (2018)
- Triple jump indoor – 17.46 m (57 ft 3+1⁄4 in) (2019)
Season's best (triple jump)
- 2017 – 16.86
- 2018 – 17.53
- 2019 – 17.46
- 2020 – 16.65
- 2021 – 17.14
- 2022 – 17.10
- 2023 – 17.24
- 2024 – 17.31
