In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 22 August 1986
- Birthplace
- Baucau, Timor-Leste
- Country
- Timor-Leste
- Nationality
- Timorese
- Known for
- Finishing the London 2012 marathon and returning in the 1,500 metres at Rio 2016
- London 2012
- Marathon: 84th, 2:45:09
- Rio 2016
- 1500m: twelfth in heat two, 4:11.35
- Marathon personal best
- 2:30:04, Vientiane, 15 December 2009
- Beijing 2008
- Marathon entry recorded as DNS, not a completed race
Why this life matters
Soares represents the persistence required to sustain elite athletics in a country with limited facilities, racing 42.2 kilometres in London before changing events for Rio.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Baucau
Born on 22 August; World Athletics confirms the birth date.
Beijing entry
Olympedia records a marathon non-start, rather than a finishing result.
Marathon personal best
Recorded 2:30:04 in Vientiane on 15 December.
Track distance marks
World Athletics lists 10,000m and 5000m bests from November races in Palembang.
London marathon finish
Finished 84th in 2:45:09 and carried Timor-Leste’s opening-ceremony flag.
Rio 1500m
Ran 4:11.35 on 16 August, finishing twelfth in heat two without advancing; later carried the closing-ceremony flag.
A Timorese runner with several distance events
Augusto Ramos Soares is a runner from Baucau whose Olympic career crossed unusually different distances: the marathon in London and the 1500 metres in Rio. World Athletics lists him under the name Augusto Ramor Soares and athlete code 14386501, with a birth date of 22 August 1986. The spelling variation should not split his performances into different people.
His recorded programme extends beyond those two Olympic events. World Athletics also lists 5000-metre and 10,000-metre performances, giving a fuller picture of his distance-running background. A short biography can easily make the Rio event look like an isolated anomaly; the wider record shows a runner who competed on the track as well as on the road.
Beijing entry and the distinction between selection and starting
Olympedia records Soares in the Beijing 2008 marathon with the result code DNS: did not start. The Timorese government’s later Rio preview includes Beijing among the Games he represented the country at, using a broader description of participation. The two sources need not be forced into the false conclusion that he completed the Beijing race.
For his competitive record, the distinction is important. An Olympic team entry, standing on the start line and recording a finish are separate milestones. This account identifies the Beijing non-start and the two later Games at which he actually raced, without inventing a reason for the 2008 absence or assigning him a marathon time that the results do not contain.
A marathon best in Vientiane and a finish in London
World Athletics records his marathon personal best as 2:30:04, achieved in Vientiane on 15 December 2009. It also lists 32:40.94 for 10,000 metres on 13 November 2011 and 15:27.54 for 5000 metres two days later, both in Palembang. These dated performances establish useful benchmarks before London rather than treating every Olympic appearance as a personal best.
At London 2012, Soares completed the marathon in 2:45:09 and placed 84th. The World Athletics Olympic statistics handbook preserves both the position and the time. He also carried Timor-Leste’s flag at the opening ceremony. His race was a completed Olympic marathon, but its result was slower than his earlier Vientiane mark; representation and peak performance are different achievements.
Rio 2016: 1500 metres, not another marathon
The Timorese government announced that Soares and Nélia Martins would contest the 1500 metres in Rio, while Francelina Cabral would race cross-country mountain biking. That three-athlete delegation placed his selection within a small multisport programme. It does not, by itself, explain the coach’s or athlete’s reasons for choosing a different running distance.
On 16 August 2016, Soares ran 4:11.35 in the second men’s 1500-metre heat. World Athletics records him twelfth in that heat, with a personal-best marker. He did not advance. Twelfth here is a heat placing, not twelfth overall in the Olympic final. Olympedia separately records his role as the country’s closing-ceremony flag bearer.
How to read a small nation’s Olympic running record
Soares’s results show continuity across international competition without supporting a medal-contender narrative. A marathon finish, a track personal best and flag-bearing roles each describe a real contribution, but they are not interchangeable statistics. His career is better explained through the events he entered and the results he achieved than through assumptions about what a small delegation should win.
It also belongs to Timor-Leste’s wider Olympic history, alongside athletes in cycling, swimming and winter sport. Their biographies show different qualification routes and training circumstances. For Soares, the reliable outline remains specific: a Beijing non-start, a completed London marathon, a switch to the Rio 1500 metres and a documented set of road and track bests.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Augusto Ramos Soares
- Did Augusto Ramos Soares finish the Beijing 2008 marathon?
- No. Olympedia records DNS, meaning did not start. A government preview’s broader account of representation is not a finishing result.
- What was his London 2012 result?
- He finished the marathon in 84th place with a time of 2:45:09.
- What did he run at Rio 2016?
- The 1500 metres. He recorded 4:11.35 and placed twelfth in heat two without advancing; that was not an Olympic-final placing.
- Why does World Athletics call him Augusto Ramor Soares?
- That is the spelling used in its athlete database, code 14386501. It refers to the same runner generally known as Augusto Ramos Soares.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Yohan Goutt Gonçalves
Compare a winter-sport pathway in the same country’s Olympic history.
- Águida Fátima Amaral
Read about an earlier Timorese Olympic marathon runner.
- Felisberto de Deus
Follow a later Timorese Olympic career on the track.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. World AthleticsAugusto Ramor Soares — Athlete Profile
- 2. OlympediaAugusto Soares Olympic Record
This specialist Olympic record distinguishes Beijing DNS, London placing, Rio heat placing and the two flag-bearing roles.
- 3. Government of Timor-LesteTimor-Leste Athletes at Rio 2016
The government’s broad statement about Beijing representation is not treated as proof of a start. It does not document why he changed events for Rio.
- 4. Wikimedia CommonsLondon Marathon photograph and licence record
- 5. World AthleticsAthlete 14386501: Augusto Ramor Soares and personal bests
The indexed World Athletics profile supplies the Ramor spelling, birth date and personal bests. Full profile retrieval is intermittent; the Rio race page and Olympic handbook provide event-specific checks.
- 6. World AthleticsRio 2016 men’s 1500m heats: heat two, 16 August
- 7. World AthleticsTokyo 2020 Olympic statistics handbook: historical marathon results
