German Silva
Germán Silva ( Germán Silva Martínez ; born January 9, 1968 in Zacatlán , Puebla ) is a former Mexican long-distance runner who was particularly successful in marathons .
Life
Silva started his career as an obstacle runner. In 1990 he won the 3000 meter obstacle course at the Central American and Caribbean Games and in 1991 he finished sixth at the Pan American Games in Havana . Then he switched to the 10,000 meter run . At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona he was sixth over this distance and ninth at the 1993 World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart.
From 1994 Silva concentrated increasingly on road running . First he finished third at the London Marathon in April . In September he won the silver medal at the World Half Marathon Championships in Oslo in a personal best of 1:00:28 h, just one second behind the winner, Khalid Skah . At the New York City Marathon in November Silva won the season in 2:11:21 h. While he was clearly in the lead, he was misdirected a good kilometer from the finish line. When he got back on track, his friend and training partner Benjamin Paredes had just taken over the lead. Silva was able to catch up with him and beat him by two seconds.
In 1995 Silva returned to the track for the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg . In the 10,000-meter run, however, he only finished thirteenth. But he managed to defend his title in the New York City Marathon with a time of 2:11:00 h. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta he was sixth in the marathon with 2:14:29 h. He then achieved further top placements in New York City (1997: 5th place) and at the Boston Marathon (1997: 4th place; 1998: 6th place).
Germán Silva is 1.60 m tall, weighed 52 kg at competition times and was looked after by Rodolfo Gómez . After finishing his career as a marathon runner, he started working as a trainer.
Top performances
- 5000 m : 13: 26.11 min, July 10, 1993, Oslo
- 10,000 m: 27: 46.52 min, June 15, 1992, Montreal
- Half marathon : 1:00:28 h, September 24, 1994, Oslo
- Marathon: 2:08:56, April 20, 1998, Boston
- 3000 m obstacle: 8: 33.52 min, June 29, 1989, Poznan
Web links
- Germán Silva's website (Spanish and English)
- Germán Silva in the database of World Athletics (English)
- Germán Silva in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Footnotes
- ^ New York Times : Silva: Detour, Stop, Reverse, Victory . November 7, 1994
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Silva, German |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Silva Martínez, Germán |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mexican long distance runner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 9, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zacatlán , Puebla |