Solonei Da Silva will represent his country at the 2016 Olympic Games Marathon. He has three career marathon wins: Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, and the 2011 Pan Am Games Marathon, where he won the gold medal. Da Silva has represented his country at the past two World Championships, finishing sixth in 2013 and 18th last year. In 2013, he won the gold medal at the Cartagena South American Championships in the 10,000m. In 2015, he won the Sao Paulo Half Marathon and the Campinas Half Marathon. Da Silva says, “If you don’t put your heart deeply into everything you do, you don’t get anything in return.”

Da Silva is currently a university student, training to become a physical education teacher. He is married to Vanessa Priscila de Oliveira and volunteers as a motivational speaker, telling his life story for charity projects. His hobbies include watching movies and eating good food. He trains in Campinas and Braganca Pulista, Brazil and does his altitude training in Paipa, Colombia.

“Running the world’s oldest marathon in Boston is like running a World Championships Marathon, which is a great honor for any athlete.”