In 1991, da Silva won the marathon event at the 1991 South American Championships in Athletics.[1] Later in the year, he won the 1991 Chicago Marathon. Da Silva took the lead around 7 miles (11 km) into the race, and despite being caught by Irishman Roy Dooney after 24 miles (39 km) of the race, da Silva quickly dropped Dooney,[1] and won the race by six seconds.[2] His winning time of 2:14:33 was the slowest winning time since 1981, due to the wind and cold weather,[1] and da Silva said that the lack of competition in the race affected his ability to run quickly.[3] The prize money for winning the Chicago Marathon was $7,500.[4]
In 1992, da Silva finished second in the Los Angeles Marathon.[5] During the race, he was caught up behind a media car, which prevented him from being able to chase eventual race winner John Treacy.[6] Later in the year, he finished fifth at the Boston Marathon, in a time of 2:11:53.[7] Da Silva competed in the marathon event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He finished 56th in a time of 2:26:00.[8]
In 1993, da Silva won the Los Angeles Marathon in a time of 2:14:29.[9] Da Silva sprinted away from the field with 2 miles (3.2 km) left of the race, and his winning time of 2:14:29 was the slowest ever winning time at the race. The race was run in temperatures of 88 °F (31 °C), which accounted for the slow race pace.[6] Da Silva received $2,500 and a Mercedes-Benz car worth $35,000 as a prize for winning the race.[4][6] Da Silva later came 16th at the 1994 Chicago Marathon, and did not finish the 1996 Chicago Marathon.[4]
Post career
After retiring, not much is known about da Silva, as he did not have a telephone in his house. According to a former agent, da Silva was involved in two road traffic accidents in the early 2000s.[4]
