ATHLETES from São Tomé and Príncipe

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Athletes of all time. This list of famous Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Naide Gomes (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 42.69, Naide Gomes is the most famous Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Enezenaide "Naide" do Rosário da Vera Cruz Gomes (born 20 November 1979) is a São Toméan-born Portuguese retired track and field athlete who competed in jumping, throwing, hurdling, and combined events. She is the 2004 World Indoor Champion in the pentathlon and the 2008 World Indoor Champion in the long jump. She has held the São Toméan record in nine disciplines (holding three as of 2022) and the Portuguese record in five disciplines (holding three as of 2022). She improved the Portuguese record in women's long jump 14 times, raising it from 6.56 metres to 7.12 metres. Gomes moved from São Tomé and Príncipe to the Portuguese capital of Lisbon when she was 11. When she was 17, she joined Portuguese sports club Sporting CP and applied for Portuguese citizenship. She initially competed at international events as a representative of São Tomé and Príncipe before becoming a naturalised citizen of Portugal in 2001, upon which she changed her sport nationality. A number of injuries altered the trajectory of Gomes' career. A knee injury in 2005 forced her to retire from the combined events, as it rendered her unable to train effectively for the high jump and hurdles events. In 2012, Gomes ruptured the Achilles tendon in her left leg but underwent a successful operation. However, additional prolonged injuries kept her away from the track from 2013 onward, and in 2015 she announced her retirement from competition. She has since become a physiotherapist.

2. Laura Traets (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 29.45, Laura Traets is the 2nd most famous Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 11 different languages.

Laura Jean Pierre Traets (Bulgarian: Лаура Жан Пиер Траатс, born 13 December 1998) is a Bulgarian group rhythmic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic champion in the group all-around. She is the 2018 World and 2021 European champion in 5 balls and the 2018 European champion in 3 balls + 2 ropes. She is a two-time (2018, 2019) World group all-around bronze medalist and the 2017 World group all-around silver medalist. On the junior level, she is the 2013 European group all-around bronze medalist.