Talented runners....

Mamede and Lopes in 1984 at Stockholms Stadion

On July 2, 1984, at Stockholm Stadium.....he and his club mate Carlos Lopes broke the current world record of the 10,000 meters. What could have been a brilliant career for Mamede never materialized due to his bad nerves during international championships. Just a few months later, and in excellent physical shape, he abandoned the race during the 10,000 meters final at the Los Angeles Olympics. In a time when psychological training was non-existent for elite athletes, his extraordinary talent was wasted.

His only medal at international level was a bronze medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Madrid in 1981. Fernando Mamede passed away on January 27, 2026, aged 74.

Persistent runners....

Los Angeles Olympic Marathon, August 12, 1984 (Carlos Lopes,723)

During the year of 1984, Carlos Lopes had his greatest season. He started by winning his second world cross-country title in New Jersey. In July, in Stockholm, he and his teammate Fernando Mamede ran under the previous 10 000 meters world record time, set by Henry Rono in 1978. The best achievement of his career was yet to come. On the last day of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Lopes did the race of a lifetime by winning the marathon in supreme style. He ran the last 7 kilometers at an average speed of 2:55 per km, a violent pace at the end of a marathon. The winning time of 2:09:21 was the new Olympic Record, and stood for 24 years until 2008. Carlos Lopes was by then 37 years old, and this win came at the same time as the big running boom of the 1980`s. This made him for sure economically independent for the rest of his life....and he deserved every penny. He retired from athletics in 1985 by setting a world best in the Rotterdam Marathon (2:07.12), and was the first human to run the 42.195 km in less than 2 h 8 min. Not to forget, one month before that, he had taken his third world cross-country title. And, until this day, he is still the last European athlete to do so. He combined, like the very best....a great physique, with huge mental strength.