High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Rui Silva (born August 3, 1977) is a Portuguese athlete, who represents Sporting Clube de Portugal. As a distance runner, he specializes at the 1500 and 3000 m events, although he has at times run the 800 metres as well. He is the national champion at 1500 m. He was the Olympic bronze medalist at Athens in 2004, where he managed to go from last place to third place in less than 400 meters, his last lap being a blazing 51.3. His last 800 meters of that race was run in 1:46.3, believed to be the second fastest final 800 metres of any 1500 meter race in history (behind Abdi Bile's 1:46.0 at the 1987 World Championships). Recent injuries prevented him from participating in various international competitions, including the World Track & Field Championships in Osaka in 2007.