Sailing guarantees third quota and 44th athlete for Portugal

The Portuguese sailor was ranked seventh in that category in Hyères, France, giving Portugal the fifth and final place under discussion, behind Switzerland, Poland, Turkey and Austria.

In view of what had been stipulated with the Portuguese Sailing Federation, the sailors who in this last qualifying phase secured a quota for the country would also guarantee their presence in the Olympic Games, so Mafalda Pires de Lima will be the Portuguese representative in women’s kiteboarding in the capital French.

The Portuguese sailor thus achieved the third quota for the country in sailing and will be the fourth national representative, after Eduardo Marques (in ILCA 7) and Diogo Costa and Carolina João (470 mixed) have also completed their qualifications in their respective categories, unlike the Greek Vasileia Karachaliou, who had secured a quota for Portugal in ILCA 6, through a special license from World Sailing, but was unable to meet the deadlines to guarantee Portuguese nationality.

At the beginning of this week, Portugal saw confirmed, for the first time, representation in men’s track cycling events at the Olympic Games, in madison and omnium, a discipline in which there will also be a female athlete in Paris2024, increasing the number to six of Portuguese quotas in cycling, three on the track and another three on the road.

This modality is, moreover, the second with the most places secured in Paris2024 after athletics, ‘unattainable’ with nine quotas – places will only be officially confirmed after June 30th, when the agreement between ranking places and brands is made .

The reigning Olympic champion in the triple jump Pedro Pichardo was the last to guarantee minimums for Paris2024, by surpassing the qualification mark at the ‘meeting’ in Xiamen, China, of the Diamond League, in his first event in almost a year.

Pichardo joined Pedro Buaró (pole vault), Samuel Barata and Susana Godinho (marathon), Isaac Nader (1,500 meters), João Coelho (400 meters), Auriol Dongmo (weight), Ana Cabecinha (20 kilometers walk) and Irina Rodrigues (album).

Swimming continues in the ranking of sports with the most guaranteed places in the next Games, which will take place between July 26th and August 11th, with five qualified: Diogo Ribeiro, with minimums in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle and also in the 100 meter butterfly , a race in which he is world champion, João Costa (100 meter backstroke), Camila Rebelo (200 meter backstroke), Miguel Nascimento (50 meter freestyle) and Angélica André (open water).

In equestrian, dressage guaranteed a collective quota, so, in addition to the presence in the obstacle course competition (a place secured for the country by Duarte Seabra), Portugal will take three other riders to Paris2024, who will participate in both the team competition and the event individual.

There are also four guaranteed quotas in the triathlon, as the mixed relay qualified, with two women and two men, who will participate in the individual events.

In canoeing, Teresa Portela secured a place in K1 500 meters, Fernando Pimenta in K1 1,000 meters, an event in which he won the bronze medal in Tokyo2020, and João Ribeiro and Messias Baptista in K2 500. All four were selected.

Table tennis will have a men’s team, made up of three players – in a quota achieved by Marcos Freitas, Tiago Apolónia, João Geraldo and Diogo Carvalho in the World Cup for teams -, of which two will still leave for the individual tournament.

Surfers Teresa Bonvalot and Yolanda Hopkins, fifth in Tokyo2020, gymnasts Filipa Martins, in the full competition, and Gabriel Albuquerque, on springboards, and shooter Maria Inês Barros, in shooting with hunting weapons (trap), complete the Portuguese team.