Naide Gomes

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Rosário and the second or paternal family name is Vera Cruz Gomes.

Naide Gomes

OIH

Gomes at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar
Personal information
Full name	Enezaide do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes
Nationality	Portuguese (since 2001) São Toméan (1979–2001)
Born	(1979-11-20) 20 November 1979 São Tomé and Príncipe
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Club	Sporting CP
Turned pro	18 July 1998
Coached by	Abreu Matos
Retired	26 March 2015
Medal record Women's athletics Representing São Tomé and Príncipe Ibero-American Championships 2000 Rio de Janeiro Heptathlon Representing Portugal World Championships 2009 Berlin Long jump World Indoor Championships 2004 Budapest Pentathlon 2008 Valencia Long jump 2006 Moscow Long jump 2010 Doha Long jump European Championships 2006 Gothenburg Long jump 2010 Barcelona Long jump European Indoor Championships 2005 Madrid Long jump 2007 Birmingham Long jump 2002 Vienna Pentathlon 2011 Paris Long jump Universiade 2005 Izmir Long jump

Enezaide do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes (born 20 November 1979), better known as Naide Gomes, is a Portuguese retired athlete. Born in São Tomé and Príncipe, she moved to Lisbon when she was 11. She initially competed at international events as a representative of São Tomé and Príncipe before becoming a naturalised citizen of Portugal in 2001.

She set a São Toméan national record in every type of event she competed in at the international level, including women's 100 metres hurdles, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, javelin throw, pentathlon, and heptathlon. She also holds the Portuguese national records in women's long jump (both outdoor and indoor), high jump, pentathlon, and heptathlon. At the club level, she represented Sporting CP and was coached by Abreu Matos.

Early life

Enezaide do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes was born on 20 November 1979 in São Tomé, the capital and largest city of São Tomé and Príncipe. She grew up in the capital São Tomé with her family, which she later described as having been, during her childhood, "[not] wealthy ... but never lack[ing] anything either." When Gomes was five, her mother moved to Lisbon, Portugal, due to health problems. She consequently lived with her grandmother for a few years before joining her mother in Lisbon when she was 11. She adapted well to life in Lisbon, as her family already spoke Portuguese natively. She later said that she "had quite a good education in São Tomé", which was "quite strict" in comparison to her education in Lisbon.

Gomes began training for competitive athletics at the age of 13 but quickly stopped, believing her training to be interfering with her academic studies. However, about a year later, while living in the parish of Fernão Ferro, across the Tagus Estuary from Lisbon, a physical education teacher convinced Gomes of her talent and encouraged her to resume training. When she was 17, she joined Sporting CP and met Abreu Matos, who would become her longtime coach. According to Gomes, by that time she "was among the best heptathletes and high jumpers in Portugal", and Sporting CP and the Portuguese Athletics Federation had begun pressuring her to become a Portuguese citizen. She applied for Portuguese citizenship soon thereafter but would not receive it until four years later, when she was 21.

Career

Representing São Tomé and Príncipe (1998–2000)

Gomes began competing internationally as a representative of her birth country São Tomé and Príncipe. Her first competition was the 1998 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, held in Lisbon from 17 to 19 July, in which she placed sixth in the high jump event with a distance of 1.75 metres.

At the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa, she finished fifth in the women's heptathlon event with a score of 4974 points.

She improved her standing at the 2000 Ibero-American Championships, winning her first silver medal in the women's heptathlon event 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 was assigned to lane seven of heat six for the first round. She finished last in her heat at eighth place, with a time of 14.43 seconds, and was eliminated from the competition.

Representing Portugal (2002–2015)

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. She made her international debut as a Portuguese athlete the following year, at the 2002 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Vienna, Austria. She won silver in the women's pentathlon event with a score of 4759 points.

At the 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 participated in three international competitions in 2003. She competed in that year's IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in the women's pentathlon event on 14 March. She placed fifth 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 6,120 points. She 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.

She earned her first gold medal in an international competition at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in the women's pentathlon event held on 5 March. She ended the event with a score of 4,759 points, the lowest ever total for a first-place finish in the IAAF World Indoor Championships. At the 2004 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, held in Huelva, Spain, from 6 to 8 August, Gomes competed in three events: long jump, shot put, and javelin throw. She placed fourth in the long jump event with a distance of 6.36 metres, and eleventh in both the shot put and javelin throw events, with distances of 13.8 metres and 38.46 metres, respectively. She competed in the women's heptathlon event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She finished thirteenth with a score of 6151 points.

In 2005, she won her first gold medal in a European competition, accomplishing the feat in that year's European Athletics Indoor Championships in Madrid, Spain. She placed first in the women's long jump event, held from 4 to 5 March, with a final distance of 6.6 metres, setting a new record for Portugal. 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 6,189 points. For the qualification round of the long jump event, held on 9 August, Gomes was placed in the first heat. She placed eighth 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 advanced to the final after finishing first in the qualification round with a distance of 6.52 metres. She went on to win silver in the final with a distance of 6.56 metres.

Gomes won silver in 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 metres.

Gomes won her third gold medal in the women's long jump event at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom. She finished first in the qualification round and final with distances of 6.68 metres and 6.89 metres, respectively. The latter result surpassed Gomes' personal best and once again raised the Portuguese national record. In the women's long jump event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, held in Osaka, Japan, Gomes finished fourth with a final distance of 6.87 metres.

She won her second gold at the World Indoor Championships and fourth gold overall in 2008. The championships that year were held in Valencia, Spain, from 7 to 9 March. Gomes finished the women's long jump event with a final distance of 7 metres. Gomes went on to finish 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' strong performances throughout the year led analysts to view her as a favourite to win gold in 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. However, Gomes fouled on her first two attempts at the Olympic event, before stutter-stepping on her final attempt and ending with a distance of 6.29 metres, placing her 32nd overall (later changed to 31st following the disqualification of silver medalist Tatyana Lebedeva).

Gomes at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany

She won gold in the women's long jump event at the 2009 Lusophony Games in Lisbon, with a distance of 6.74 metres. 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 won her first bronze 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.

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 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 placed ninth in the women's long jump event with a distance of 6.26 metres.

Retirement

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 afflicted her 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, as well as a desire to become a coach or physiotherapist to remain in professional athletics. She also announced that she was expecting her first child.

International results

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing São Tomé and Príncipe
1998	Ibero-American Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	6th	High jump	1.75 m
1999	All-Africa Games	Johannesburg, South Africa	5th	Heptathlon	4974 pts
2000	Ibero-American Championships	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	2nd	Heptathlon	5463 pts
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	36th (h)	100 m H	14.43 s
Representing Portugal
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	2nd	Pentathlon	4595 pts
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	10th	Long jump	6.23 m
			18th	Heptathlon	5142 pts
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	5th	Pentathlon	4476 pts
	Hypo-Meeting	Götzis, Austria	4th	Heptathlon	6120 pts
	Universiade	Daegu, South Korea	16th (q)	Long jump	5.86 m
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	Pentathlon	4759 pts
	Ibero-American Championships	Huelva, Spain	4th	Long jump	6.36 m
			11th	Shot put	13.80 m
			11th	Javelin throw	38.46 m
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	13th	Heptathlon	6151 pts
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	1st	Long jump	6.70 m
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	17th (q)	Long jump	6.42 m
			7th	Heptathlon	6189 pts
	Universiade	İzmir, Turkey	2nd	Long jump	6.56 m
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	2nd	Long jump	6.76 m
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	2nd	Long jump	6.84 m
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	Long jump	6.89 m
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	4th	Long jump	6.87 m
2008	World Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	1st	Long jump	7.00 m
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	31st (q)	Long jump	6.29 m
2009	Lusophony Games	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	Long jump	6.74 m (w)
	European Team Championships Superleague	Leiria, Portugal	1st	Long jump	6.83 m
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	3rd	Long jump	6.77 m
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	2nd	Long jump	6.67 m
	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	Long jump	6.92 m
2011	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	2nd	Long jump	6.79 m
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	9th	Long jump	6.26 m

Records

During her time representing São Tomé and Príncipe, Gomes set national records in women's 100 metres hurdles, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, javelin throw, pentathlon, and heptathlon. She also holds the Portuguese national records in women's long jump (both outdoor and indoor), high jump, pentathlon, and heptathlon. She set the record in women's long jump 14 times, raising it from 6.56 metres to 7.12 metres.

Honours

Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio made Gomes an Officer of the Order of Prince Henry on 8 March 2005.

External links

• Naide Gomes at World Athletics