| Birth Date: | 8 July 1979 |
| Birth Place: | Pacaembu, Brazil |
| Height: | 170 cm[1] |
| Weight: | 55 kg |
| Sport: | Athletics |
| Coach: | Dino de Aguiar Cintra Filho Marco Antonio de Oliveira[2] |
| Club: | Cruzeiro Sport Club Luasa Sports Taubaté São Paulo FC[3] |
| Event: | 5000 m – marathon |
| Pb: | 5000 m – 14:00.81 (2010) 10 km – 28:34 (2014) HM – 1:02:30 (2011) Marathon – 2:09:51 (2022) |
Paulo Roberto de Almeida Paula (born 8 July 1979) is a Brazilian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races.[4] He finished 8th at the 2012 Olympics and 15th at the 2016 Rio Olympics.[5] He is a member of the Cruzeiro Sport Club.
He began competing nationally in his teenage years. He was runner-up over 10,000 metres at the 1998 Brazilian Junior Championships with a run of 30:42.94 minutes. He began to progress in the senior ranks of the event in 2002, finishing fourth at the Brazilian Athletics Championships with a run of 28:58.03 minutes. However, he did not frequently compete at the top level over the following years.[6]
He moved up to the half marathon distance, and in 2007 he was runner-up at the São Paulo Half Marathon with a time of 64:29 minutes. He repeated that feat in 2008 and 2009 and improved his best time to 64:26 minutes over the period. His marathon debut followed in 2011 with a run at the Amsterdam Marathon, where his finishing time of 2:13:15 hours was enough for 17th place. Two better performances in 2012 (2:11:51 at the Barcelona Marathon, then 2:10:23 for third at the Maratona di Sant'Antonio) saw him chosen for the Brazilian team for the 2012 London Olympics.[6]
At the start of 2013, he dropped out of the Lake Biwa Marathon, but he showed a resurgence of form by winning the Maratona di Sant'Antonio in Italy – his first international victory.[7]
In 2019, he competed in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar.[8] He finished in 19th place.[8]
He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[9]
Paula serves in the Brazilian Army. His twin brother Luiz Fernando is also an international long-distance runner. He tried to qualify in the marathon for the 2012 Olympics.[5] [2]