Naide Gomes

Enezenaide "Naide" do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes (born 20 November 1979) is a São Toméan and Portuguese retired track and field athlete who competed in jumping, throwing, hurdling, and combined events. She is the 2004 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon and the 2008 World Indoor Champion in the long jump. She has held the São Toméan record in nine disciplines (holding three ) and the Portuguese record in five disciplines (holding three ). She improved the Portuguese record in women's long jump 14 times, raising it from 6.56 metres to 7.12 metres.

Gomes moved from São Tomé and Príncipe to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon when she was 11. When she was 17, she joined Portuguese sports club Sporting CP and applied for Portuguese citizenship. She initially competed at international events as a representative of São Tomé and Príncipe before becoming a naturalised citizen of Portugal in 2001, upon which she changed her sport nationality.

A number of injuries altered the trajectory of Gomes's career. A knee injury in 2005 forced her to retire from the combined events, as it rendered her unable to train effectively for the high jump and hurdles events. In 2012, Gomes ruptured the Achilles tendon in her left leg but underwent a successful operation. However, additional prolonged injuries kept her away from the track from 2013 onward, and in 2015 she announced her retirement from competition. She has since become a physiotherapist.

Early life Enezenaide do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes was born on 20 November 1979 in São Tomé and Príncipe, a Portuguese-speaking island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Central Africa. She spent most of her childhood in São Tomé and Príncipe with her family, which she later described as having been not wealthy, but never lacking anything either.

When she was 17, she joined Sporting CP, drawn by the reputation of the club's training program and Mário Moniz Pereira, who oversaw athletics. At Sporting she met Abreu Matos, who would become her longtime coach.

In 1999, she won three gold medals at the Central African Athletics Championships in Garoua, Cameroon, in the women's 100 metres hurdles, 400 metres hurdles, and high jump events. She was unable to secure a medal at the subsequent 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa, finishing fifth in the women's heptathlon event with a score of 4974 points. However, the next year she continued her international success by winning silver in the women's heptathlon event at the 2000 Ibero-American Championships, with a score of 5463 points.

Gomes made her Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and was given the honour of being São Tomé and Príncipe's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. She competed in the women's 100 metres hurdles event and finished last in her heat in eighth place, with a time of 14.43 seconds. She was consequently eliminated from the competition.

Acquisition of Portuguese citizenship and first championship titles (2001–2005) After a four-year naturalisation process, Gomes was granted Portuguese citizenship by the Ministry of Internal Administration on 4 May 2001, at the age of 21. At the subsequent 2002 European Athletics Championships, she competed in the women's long jump and heptathlon events. She placed tenth in the long jump event with a best distance of 6.23 metres, and eighteenth in the heptathlon with a score of 5142 points. She was unable to complete the 800 metre race in the heptathlon event.

Gomes was less successful in 2003, failing to secure a medal at an international championship. At the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 14 March, she placed fifth in the women's pentathlon event with 4476 points. At the 2003 Hypo-Meeting, held in Götzis, Austria, from 31 May to 1 June, she placed fourth in the women's heptathlon event with a score of 6120 points. Gomes made her Universiade debut at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, South Korea. On 26 August, she finished sixteenth in the women's long jump event with a distance of 5.86 metres, failing to advance to the final.

However, the following year, Gomes had what World Athletics described as an "amazing performance" at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and fulfilled her dream of becoming a world indoor champion. Gomes's result was nonetheless that year's world best result for pentathlon, and set new Portuguese records in the pentathlon (raised by 164 points) and the high jump (at 1.88 metres). Commenting on the latter record, Gomes said: "In the high jump, when passing at 1.85 metres, I thought the national record of 1.88 metres was possible to break. And I did it."

In 2005, she won her first European title at that year's European Athletic Indoor Championships in Madrid, Spain. Shortly after returning home from the event, on 8 March, Gomes was made an Officer of the Order of Prince Henry by Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio.

At the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland, Gomes competed in the heptathlon and long jump events. She placed seventh in the heptathlon event, held from 6 to 7 August, with a score of 6189 points. For the qualification round of the long jump event, held on 9 August, Gomes was placed in the first heat. She finished ninth in her heat with a distance of 6.42 metres and failed to advance to the final.

Gomes saw better results at the women's long jump event of the 2005 Summer Universiade, held in İzmir, Turkey, from 15 to 16 August. She finished first in the qualification round with a distance of 6.52 metres and advanced to the final, where she won silver with a distance of 6.56 metres.

Injury and retirement from the combined events A knee injury in 2005 prompted Gomes to shift her focus to the long jump and retire from the combined events at the start of 2006. The injury prevented her from training properly for the high jump and hurdles events, effectively ending her participation in the combined events.

Focus on the long jump and continued success in Europe (2006–2011) Gomes won silver at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2006 European Athletics Championships. At the World Indoor Championships held in Moscow, Russia, from 11 to 12 March, she finished the women's long jump event with a final distance of 6.73 metres, surpassing her previous record. At the European Championships held in Gothenburg, Sweden, she finished the women's long jump event with a final distance of 6.84 metresa new personal best.

Gomes defended her title in the women's indoor long jump event at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Following the event, the Portuguese newspaper of record Diário de Notícias praised her as the country's new "Special One", a reference to a self-bestowed title of Portuguese football manager and former player José Mourinho.

Two weeks before the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, held from 7 to 9 March, Gomes once again set a Portuguese record for indoor long jump with a distance of 6.93 metres, beating her previous record by three centimetres. She went on to win her second gold at the World Indoor Championships, this time in the women's long jump event with a final distance of 7.00 metres. Later in the year, Gomes placed first in two IAAF World Athletics Tour women's long jump events, in DN Galan, held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 22 July, and Herculis, held in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on 29 July. She ultimately won gold in that year's IAAF World Athletics Final for women's long jump, held in Stuttgart, Germany, on 13 September. She had a final distance of 6.71 metres.

Gomes's strong performances throughout 2008 led analysts to view her as a favourite to win the women's long jump event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. A month before the Games, she had set a season's best of 7.12 metres, her best ever result.

After the 2008 Olympics, Gomes underwent two surgeries, one in Germany for an abdominal hernia, and one in Portugal for her Achilles tendon. She then resumed her training and second-year studies in physiotherapy, which she had postponed to focus on the Olympics. The sports' journalists association of Portugal also awarded her the title of "best athlete of the year". She continued her success that year with another gold at the 2009 European Team Championships in Leiria, Portugal, again in women's long jump, with a final distance of 6.83 metres. Gomes then finished fourth in the women's long jump event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany, with a final distance of 6.77 metres. Her ranking in the event was later updated to third due to the annulment of silver medalist Tatyana Lebedeva's 2008 to 2009 records for doping.

In 2010, Gomes won two consecutive silvers at that year's World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar, and the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. In the former's women's long jump event, she had a final distance of 6.67 metres; in the latter's, she finished with a distance of 6.92 metres.

Gomes made her final international championship appearances in 2011. She won silver a final time in the women's long jump event at the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris, France. She had a final distance of 6.79 metres. Gomes failed to win a medal in her final international competition, the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, held in Daegu, South Korea. She finished ninth in the women's long jump event with a distance of 6.26 metres.

Prolonged injuries and retirement (2012–2015) Gomes ruptured an Achilles tendon in her left leg on 9 May 2012, during Portugal's National Club Championships.

On 26 March 2015, Gomes announced her retirement from competitive athletics at the age of 35, in a special news conference made alongside close friends and her longtime coach Abreu Matos. She cited prolonged injuries, which had kept her away from competition since 2013, as the main reason for her retirement. An injury to her supporting foot kept her from competing, and a knee injury required surgery. Gomes expressed pride in her career, in which she earned 11 medals at the international level.

Post-retirement Gomes became a physiotherapist after her retirement from competition.

She married her boyfriend Pedro Oliveira in 2016. Their elder child Mateus was born in 2015, shortly after her retirement, and their younger son Miguel was born in 2017.

Gomes served as an ambassador for the 2022 São Silvestre El Corte Inglés, an annual running event in Lisbon. She also set Portuguese records in women's heptathlon, long jump, indoor long jump, indoor high jump, and indoor pentathlon. She improved the record in women's long jump 14 times, raising it from 6.56 metres to 7.12 metres. , she holds the Portuguese records in heptathlon, long jump, and indoor high jump.

+ national records held by Naide Gomes Type Event Record Date Venue Outdoor Heptathlon 5671 pts 19–20 August 2000 Logroño, Spain High jump 1.80 m 19 August 2000 Logroño, Spain Shot put 13.22 m 10 February 2001 Almada, Portugal

+ national records held by Naide Gomes Type Event Record Date Venue Outdoor Heptathlon 6230 pts 15–16 July 2005 Logroño, Spain Athens, Greece 2nd Long jump 6.68 m 2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 1st Long jump 6.89 m European Cup – 1st League Milan, Italy 1st Long jump 6.80 m World Championships Osaka, Japan 4th Long jump 6.87 m 2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 1st Long jump 7.00 m European Cup – 1st League Leiria, Portugal 1st Long jump 6.79 m Olympic Games Beijing, China 29th Long jump 6.29 m 2009 European Team Championships Superleague Leiria, Portugal 1st Long jump 6.83 m Lusophony Games Lisbon, Portugal 1st Long jump 6.74 m World Championships Berlin, Germany 3rd Long jump 6.77 m 2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 2nd Long jump 6.67 m European Team Championships – 1st League Budapest, Hungary 5th 45.92 s 1st Long jump 6.69 m European Championships Barcelona, Spain 2nd Long jump 6.92 m 2011 European Indoor Championships Paris, France 2nd Long jump 6.79 m European Team Championships – Super League Stockholm, Sweden 5th 44.72 s 4th Long jump 6.58 m World Championships Daegu, South Korea 9th Long jump 6.26 m

Portuguese championship titles Gomes holds 21 Portuguese championship titles (12 outdoor, 9 indoor), of which 17 are in the long jump, and 2 each in the high jump and the 100 metre hurdles. The data in the table below is taken from Gomes's World Athletics profile.

+ championship titles held by Naide Gomes Year Competition Event Result 2002 Portuguese Indoor Championships High jump 1.82 m Long jump 6.44 m Portuguese Championships High jump 1.84 m Long jump 6.57 m 2003 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.29 m 2004 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.41 m Portuguese Championships 13.64 s Long jump 6.35 m 2005 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.40 m Portuguese Championships 13.50 s 2006 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.49 m Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.53 m 2007 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.76 m Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.73 m 2008 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.53 m Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.84 m 2009 Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.38 m 2010 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.70 m Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.53 m 2011 Portuguese Indoor Championships Long jump 6.59 m Portuguese Championships Long jump 6.58 m