Tina Paulino
Encyclopedia
Tina Paulino is an 800 metres
runner
from Mozambique
.
, Tina Paulino is a distant cousin of Maria de Lurdes Mutola. She started competing in 1992 at the age of 18, having already played basketball
for the national team. Stelio Craveirinha, son of the poet Jose Craveirinha
and himself a former national long jump
record holder, was the man responsible for introducing her to athletics. She competed in a number of road races, but there was no track competition for her in Mozambique. Craveirinha, however, managed to convince the National Olympic Committee to send her to Portugal
on a training camp. Her results were impressive given the short time that she had been running seriously: she won the Portuguese national 800 m title in a time of 2:03.84, faster than Mutola ran in her first race outside of Mozambique.
n circuit, Tina stunned athletics observers by running 1:56.62 in a race won by cousin Mutola in 1:56.56. Both runners beat Mutola’s week-old African record. In the World Championship final of that year, held in Stuttgart
she was unfortunate to fall over when challenging for a medal.
From 1995, Tina benefited from the ‘Atlanta ‘96’ IOC Solidarity Programme, an initiative designed to boost the Olympic preparations of carefully selected athletes from developing nations. Tina and eleven other athletes, including Tommy Asinga, Sipho Dlamini, Ngozi Mwanamwambwa and Marie Womplou, trained under the guidance of coach Ron Davis while attending LaGrange College at LaGrange, seventy miles southwest of Atlanta, where they enjoyed state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including a new $400 000 track. Despite developing an infection during a tooth extraction, Tina managed to reach the IAAF
‘A’ standard and thus fulfilled the criteria for competing in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics
in Gothenburg
, where she reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately she did not achieve the qualifying standard for the following year’s Olympic Games
.
In May 1997 Tina followed the Olympic Solidarity Programme as it moved from LaGrange to Savannah. In Savannah she attended and Graduated from Armstrong Atlantic State University with BA in English Literature. Here, Dieudonne Kwizera and Abdi Bile
coached her to eventual silver at the Commonwealth Games
in Kuala Lumpur
in 1998. The following year, 1999, seemed to see a consolidation of the good form Tina had displayed in Malaysia. After elimination during the first round of the World Indoors in Japan
, she scored victories at the Brazil
ian Grand Prix, the Mt San Antonio College Relays, the Oregon Track Classic and the Harry Jerome Classic. She also had solid runs in Eugene
and St. Louis
. However, the Savannah International Training Centre closed its doors in late 1999, amidst claims that the IOC had failed to meet its obligations to provide enough athletes to keep the facilities open.
Tina also worked with Luiz de Oliveira in Tucson
, Arizona
. The Brazilian coached the legendary 800 m stars Joaquim Cruz
and Jose Luis Barbosa, as well as Osmar dos Santos and Hudson de Souza. He also coached David Krummenacker and Patrick Nduwimana. In 2002 she went to the Centro Nacional de Treinamento de Atletismo in Manaus
, where she achieved her best mark of that season: 2:01.25. The rest of the season was quiet – with the exception of a few low-key meetings in Italy
she did not compete in Europe
. She also failed to contest the Commonwealth Games
in Manchester
.
in Italy and competed for the Italian club US Quercia Marsili. She was also coached by Margo Fund. She qualified for the 2003 World Championships
thanks to the fact that Mutola, as defending champion, received automatic entry. After an impressive first-round victory, she failed to progress beyond the semi-finals. By now, Tina had established herself as a regular pacemaker in both 800 m and 1500 m races on the European circuit. In 2004, however, her regular appearances as a pacemaker meant that she had few occasions to attempt to meet the strict Olympic qualifying standards. After a promising early-season 2:00.96 in Brazil, her marks became slower and slower. Her final opportunity to reach the required two-minute mark, the Iberoamerican Games in Huelva
in August, resulted in disaster – she failed to even qualify for the games final.
2005 started inauspiciously – with slow times outside 2:15.
800 metres
The 800 meter race is a common track running event. It is the shortest common middle distance track event. The 800 meter is run over two laps of the track and has always been an Olympic event. During indoor track season the event is usually run on a 200 meter track, therefore requiring four laps...
runner
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
from Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
.
Early life
Born in InhambaneInhambane
Inhambane, Terra de Boa Gente is a city located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and according to the 2008 census has a population of 65,837, growing from the 1997 census of 54,157...
, Tina Paulino is a distant cousin of Maria de Lurdes Mutola. She started competing in 1992 at the age of 18, having already played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
for the national team. Stelio Craveirinha, son of the poet Jose Craveirinha
José Craveirinha
José Craveirinha , was born in Maputo, Mozambique and is today considered the greatest poet of that country....
and himself a former national long jump
Long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
record holder, was the man responsible for introducing her to athletics. She competed in a number of road races, but there was no track competition for her in Mozambique. Craveirinha, however, managed to convince the National Olympic Committee to send her to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
on a training camp. Her results were impressive given the short time that she had been running seriously: she won the Portuguese national 800 m title in a time of 2:03.84, faster than Mutola ran in her first race outside of Mozambique.
Career
In 1993, after a string of victories on the South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n circuit, Tina stunned athletics observers by running 1:56.62 in a race won by cousin Mutola in 1:56.56. Both runners beat Mutola’s week-old African record. In the World Championship final of that year, held in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
she was unfortunate to fall over when challenging for a medal.
From 1995, Tina benefited from the ‘Atlanta ‘96’ IOC Solidarity Programme, an initiative designed to boost the Olympic preparations of carefully selected athletes from developing nations. Tina and eleven other athletes, including Tommy Asinga, Sipho Dlamini, Ngozi Mwanamwambwa and Marie Womplou, trained under the guidance of coach Ron Davis while attending LaGrange College at LaGrange, seventy miles southwest of Atlanta, where they enjoyed state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including a new $400 000 track. Despite developing an infection during a tooth extraction, Tina managed to reach the IAAF
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
‘A’ standard and thus fulfilled the criteria for competing in the IAAF World Championships in Athletics
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
, where she reached the semi-finals. Unfortunately she did not achieve the qualifying standard for the following year’s Olympic Games
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
.
In May 1997 Tina followed the Olympic Solidarity Programme as it moved from LaGrange to Savannah. In Savannah she attended and Graduated from Armstrong Atlantic State University with BA in English Literature. Here, Dieudonne Kwizera and Abdi Bile
Abdi Bile
Abdi Bile is a former middle distance runner from Somalia. In 1987 he became world champion in the 1500 metres, the first Somali to do so.-Career:...
coached her to eventual silver at the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
in 1998. The following year, 1999, seemed to see a consolidation of the good form Tina had displayed in Malaysia. After elimination during the first round of the World Indoors in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, she scored victories at the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Grand Prix, the Mt San Antonio College Relays, the Oregon Track Classic and the Harry Jerome Classic. She also had solid runs in Eugene
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
and St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. However, the Savannah International Training Centre closed its doors in late 1999, amidst claims that the IOC had failed to meet its obligations to provide enough athletes to keep the facilities open.
Tina also worked with Luiz de Oliveira in Tucson
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The Brazilian coached the legendary 800 m stars Joaquim Cruz
Joaquim Cruz
Joaquim Carvalho Cruz is a former Brazilian athlete, winner of the 800 m at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He is one of only four men to run the 800 m in less than 1:42....
and Jose Luis Barbosa, as well as Osmar dos Santos and Hudson de Souza. He also coached David Krummenacker and Patrick Nduwimana. In 2002 she went to the Centro Nacional de Treinamento de Atletismo in Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, where she achieved her best mark of that season: 2:01.25. The rest of the season was quiet – with the exception of a few low-key meetings in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
she did not compete in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. She also failed to contest the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
Recent events
From late 2002 Tina was based in RoveretoRovereto
Rovereto is a city and comune in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River.-History:Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier between the bishopric of Trento - an independent state until 1797 - and the republic of Venice, and later...
in Italy and competed for the Italian club US Quercia Marsili. She was also coached by Margo Fund. She qualified for the 2003 World Championships
2003 World Championships in Athletics
The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...
thanks to the fact that Mutola, as defending champion, received automatic entry. After an impressive first-round victory, she failed to progress beyond the semi-finals. By now, Tina had established herself as a regular pacemaker in both 800 m and 1500 m races on the European circuit. In 2004, however, her regular appearances as a pacemaker meant that she had few occasions to attempt to meet the strict Olympic qualifying standards. After a promising early-season 2:00.96 in Brazil, her marks became slower and slower. Her final opportunity to reach the required two-minute mark, the Iberoamerican Games in Huelva
Huelva
Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The...
in August, resulted in disaster – she failed to even qualify for the games final.
2005 started inauspiciously – with slow times outside 2:15.