Born in
Araruama, she discovered
athletics while at high school and tried the
pole vault and sprinting events. She eventually focused solely on the 400 m and moved to
Rio de Janeiro in order to train with the Vasco da Gama 16 sports club. She won her first Brazilian title in the 400 m in 2002 and took three consecutive victories at the annual event. She made her world debut at the
2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships, running in the heats stage. Her first continental medals came at the
2003 South American Championships in Athletics, where she secured both the individual and relay 400 m titles for Brazil. She was also chosen for those events at the
2003 Pan American Games, and she helped Brazil to the
bronze medal in the
4×400 metres relay. She made her outdoor global debut at the
2003 World Championships in Athletics, but was eliminated in the
heats of the 400 m. She was selected for the 400 m race and relay at the
2004 Athens Olympics but was eliminated in the first round of both events. The following year she won the
silver medal behind
Maria Laura Almirão at the
2005 South American Championships in Athletics and joined her compatriot to win the relay gold. More relay success came at the
2005 World Championships in Athletics, as a team of Almirão, Coutinho,
Josiane Tito and
Lucimar Teodoro set a
South American record time of 3:26.82 minutes in the heats, although they were disqualified in the final. She was a finalist in both the
200 metres and 400 m at the
2006 Ibero-American Championships, but she then disappeared from international competition with sub-par seasons in 2007 and 2008. The
2011 Military World Games were held in her home state of Rio de Janeiro, and she provided one of the highlights for the hosts by winning the 400 m title in a personal best and Games record of 51.08 seconds. She won two further gold medals at the competition as she helped Brazil not only win the 4×400 m relay but also the
4×100 metres relay (in which she set another Games record). At the 2011 Brazilian championships, she ran a personal best of 23.07 seconds for the 200 m (later finishing third overall), won the 400 m race, and then set a South American record in the 4×400 m relay of 3:26.68 minutes with her club mates
Bárbara de Oliveira,
Joelma Sousa and
Jailma de Lima. ==Personal bests==