Plaque Category - Legend

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (BRA)

2-time Olympic gold medallist;

Triple jump world record (16.00m) set in Tiete Stadium, São Paulo on 3 December 1950

Triple jumper Adhemar da Silva has a good claim to be the greatest ever athlete produced by the South American continent, thanks to his back-to-back Olympic Games gold medals in 1952 and 1956. Da Silva was in a class of his own in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, breaking his own world record with 16.12m in the second round and improving to 16.22m in the fifth round. Having improved the world record to 16.56m in 1955, da Silva retained the Olympic title in Melbourne the following year with an Olympic record of 16.35m.

1952 and 1956 Olympic Games – 2 gold.
5 ratified world records

Born: São Paulo, Brazil, 29 September 1927.
Died: São Paulo, Brazil, 12 January 2001.