Ronaldo da Costa (born 7 June 1970) is a Brazilian former long-distance runner and former world-record holder for the marathon distance.
Career Da Costa broke the ten-year-old marathon world record in 1998 in Berlin, having been fifth-placed in the previous year. The record had been held by Belayneh Densamo from Ethiopia at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 1988.IAAF All Time Marathon List Retrieved 18 May 2010. The record fell in the following year, almost eleven months later. During his record run, Da Costa was also the first man to officially reach the 40 km mark under two hours. He arrived at the 40K split in 1:59:55.
The youngest of eleven children, Da Costa became a national hero after winning the internationally competed São Silvestre Brazilian road race (15 km) in 1994. The same year he won the 5,000 m in the Ibero-American Championships entered by south-western European, Central and South American countries. From 1997, aged 27, until 2003, Da Costa achieved top-20 results in four marathons; however, unlike most marathon record holders, he did not win any international marathons apart from his world-record-breaking run.
Achievements Representing 1993South American ChampionshipsLima, Peru1st5000 m13:58.71994World Half Marathon ChampionshipsOslo, Norway 3rdHalf marathon60:00.54Ibero-American ChampionshipsMar del Plata, Argentina1st5000m13:47.992nd10,000m28:18.261995Pan American GamesMar del Plata, Argentina7th5000 m14:01.47 3rd10,000 m29:07.68South American ChampionshipsManaus, Brazil1st5000 m13:51.661996Olympic GamesAtlanta, Georgia 16th10,000 m29:26.581997Berlin MarathonBerlin, Germany5thMarathon2:09:071998Berlin MarathonBerlin, Germany 1stMarathon2:06:05 WRWorld Half Marathon ChampionshipsUster, Switzerland 12thHalf marathon61:04.541999London MarathonLondon, England17thMarathon2:14:102002Berlin MarathonBerlin, Germany16thMarathon2:12:522003Tokyo MarathonTokyo, Japan17thMarathon2:20:57
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