Mozambique mourns the death of Stélio Craveirinha – “He will be greatly missed”

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Mozambique mourns the death of Stélio Craveirinha – “He will be greatly missed”

9:17 CAT | 12 Oct 2020

File photo: O País

Stélio Craveirinha, who played a paramount role in Mozambican athletics and sports, died on Sunday in Maputo .The former athlete, athletics coach and mentor to Lurdes Mutola was known for his integrity and selflessness.

The Secretary of State for Sports, Carlos Gilberto Mendes reacted with sadness to the death of Stélio Craveirinha, this Sunday.

“We feel a deep sadness. One of the greatest athletes in our country is gone. A man of great values, a man of very strong convictions has left us. Stélio was always, throughout all of the generations who accompanied him, an example of selfless effort, of total commitment to athletics. Stélio Craverinha’s life is completely intertwined with the history of national athletics, where he gave all of him for the good of the sports. He was even involved in perfecting of the one who was the best athlete this country has ever had, Lurdes Mutola, as her coach. We have lost someone of immeasurable value here and he will be greatly missed,” said Gilberto Mendes.

Born on March 3, 1950, Stélio Craveirinha passed away at the Maputo Central Hospital, where he had been hospitalised for over a month due to health complications.

Son of poet José Craveirinha, Stélio was a member of the Mozambican delegation that participated in the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980, marked by the boycott of 66 member countries of the International Olympic Committee, led by the United States of America, as a form of protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 27, 1979. In those Moscow Olympics, Stélio Craveirinha reached the 6.94 metre mark in the long jump qualifiers.

He was a national athletics record holder several times.

In addition to breaking the national record of long jump several times, Stélio Craveirinha was a highly respected coach, who prepared outstanding athletes such as Lurdes Mutola, Argentina da Glória, Elisa Cossa and Hassina Bibi among others.

Stélio Craveirinha was linked to the ‘Desportivo de Maputo’ club, where he was an athlete and a coach and even provided support to the football and basketball teams as a physical trainer.

Mozambican sports community loses one of its best, one of its most charismatic, a role model and a man who contributed enormously to the development of national athletics.

A Embaixada da 🇪🇦 apresenta as suas mais sentidas condolências à família de Stélio Craveirinha, um dos primeiros atletas olímpicos de 🇲🇿, treinador da olímpica Lurdes Mutola, entre outras grandes atletas, e filho do grande poeta José Craveirinha. Paz à sua alma. DEP. ✝️🏃‍♂️🇲🇿 https://t.co/vZUlwqEx2M

— Embajada de España en Mozambique (@EmbEspMaputo) October 12, 2020