Odair Santos

Odair Santos (born 17 May 1981) is a visually impaired Paralympian athlete from Brazil competing mainly in T11 classification middle and long-distance events. A veteran of four Paralympics, Santos has won nine Paralympic medals, including five silver medals. Santos is also a four time IPC World champion at the 1,500 metres event, being unbeaten from 2006 to 2015.

Odair Santos

Odair and Carlos Santos run 5000 m at the 2016 Paralympics
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Dinho, Doca
Born	(1981-05-17) 17 May 1981 Limeira, Brazil
Height	181 cm (71 in)
Sport
Country	Brazil
Sport	Athletics
Disability	visual impairment
Disability class	T11
Event	middle distance events
Club	Centro de Treinamento Limeira Paralímpico
Coached by	Amaury Verissimo (national) Fabio Breda (personal)
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals	2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London 2012 Rio
Medal record Men's para athletics Representing Brazil Paralympic Games 2004 Athens 5000m – T12 2004 Athens 1500m – T13 2012 London 1500m – T11 2016 Rio 1500m – T11 2016 Rio 5000m – T11 2004 Athens 800m – T12 2008 Beijing 800m – T12 2008 Beijing 5000m – T13 2008 Beijing 10000m – T12 World Championships 2006 Assen 1500m – T12 2011 Christchurch 1500m – T11 2011 Christchurch 5000m – T11 2011 Christchurch 10000m – T11 2013 Lyon 800m – T11 2013 Lyon 1500m – T11 2013 Lyon 5000m – T11 2015 Doha 1500m – T11 2006 Assen 800m – T12 2006 Assen 4 × 100 m relay – T11–13 Parapan American Games 2007 Rio de Janeiro 1500m T11 2007 Rio de Janeiro 5000m T11 2007 Rio de Janeiro 10000m T11 2011 Guadalajara 1500m T11 2011 Guadalajara 5000m T11 2015 Toronto 1500m T11

Athletics career

Santos first represented Brazil at a Paralympic Games when he competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. There he won a silver medal in the men's 5000 metres – T12 event, a silver medal in the men's 1500 metres – T13 event, a bronze medal in the men's 800 metres – T12 event and finished fourth in the men's 4 × 100 metre relay – T11–13 event. He also competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. There he won a bronze medal in the men's 800 metres – T12 event, a bronze medal in the men's 5000 metres – T13 event and a bronze medal in the men's 10,000 metres – T12 event. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he won silver in the Men's 1500 metres – T11 event.

In the buildup to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Santos attended the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. There he took gold in the 1500m – T11, but the events of the 5000m – T11 final saw Santos dramatically lose a commanding lead on the last lap. In the closing stages of the race with Santos clear of the rest of the field he fell to the floor with exhaustion, on returning to his feet he was overtaken by Chile's Cristian Valenzuela. Despite the support of his guide, Santos collapsed a second time, and was passed by Jason Dunkerley of Canada. Santos rose again only to collapse meters from the line to lose the bronze medal place to Japan's Shinya Wada.

He holds the 800 m world record for T11 (totally blind) athletes.

External links

• Odair Santos at the International Paralympic Committee
• Odair Santos at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)