2024-04-18 06:59:20
The sports director of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP) assured that the Portuguese Mission is in line with the objectives proposed for Paris2024, which foresee the possibility of repeating the four medals from Tokyo2020.
In an interview with the Lusa agency, regarding the 100 days since the start of the Olympic Games, which take place on Wednesday, Pedro Roque states that Portugal is “perfectly aligned” with what is foreseen in the program contract with the Government, which speaks of four podium positions, 15 diplomas (up to eighth place) and 36 positions up to 16th place.
The official recalls that this was the result of Tokyo2020, “Portugal’s best results ever” in the Olympic Games, so the Portuguese Mission leaves for Paris with “a base that has never been achieved in Portugal”.
“What we propose is to at least equal what was done in Tokyo. Naturally, the signals given in Tokyo were very positive, with results that we had not yet had. Having the ability to maintain these same results will be a great achievement for Portuguese sport […]. The objectives are very challenging, but we are perfectly aligned with these objectives, we can and must achieve them. If it doesn’t happen, it won’t be a big difference either, that’s our prediction,” he said.
Even with three of the four medal winners in Tokyo2020 having a complicated Olympic cycle – Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Patrícia Mamona and Jorge Fonseca had physical problems -, the COP maintains the hope of having four medals, even looking at the results of recent years in the Tokyo 2020 championships. world.
“In 2023, we had three podium positions, they were all gold. And this was the first time that three first-place podium positions had happened in Portugal, in world championships. In the year 2022, we obtained five. In 2021, at the Olympic Games, there were four. 2020 doesn’t count, because it was a pandemic year, in 2019 we had six, which was our record. […] Which means that, if we take the average, we aim for around four medals here”, he said.
Stressing that these results are “an indicator of quality” of the Portuguese team, Pedro Roque assumes that there is still a lot of work to do, since Portugal, with an average of 1.12 medals per Games, is very far from the European average (nine ) and even countries of similar size (7.5).
“Which means that our best representation was close to half of these countries between five and 12 million inhabitants and was below half the European Union average. […] We will not be able to reach the EU average, very predictably, in Paris. But we have to point to other editions of the Olympic Games, because if we want convergence in so many areas of our society, also in sport, particularly in high performance and Olympic participation, we believe that we must have this goal and this objective”, he highlighted.
More female athletes than men competing?
100 days before the Olympic Games, Portugal has 40 athletes with guaranteed quotas, 16 fewer than on the same ‘date’ in Tokyo2020 (disputed in 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic), a figure influenced by the fact that handball failed to second consecutive qualification – there would be 14 handball players –, although Pedro Roque does not consider it a failure.
“If five years ago we thought that it was possible for handball to be in the deciding game for the Olympic Games on two occasions and on one of them to have succeeded and on the other not to have succeeded, even more so at the opponent’s home ground, certainly few would believe this scenario to be possible. What is a fact is that handball has proven to be a sustainable project, a project with a future,” he said.
Pointing to some renewal in the team, Pedro Roque believes that the number of Portuguese athletes could be between 70 and 80, with qualification for 63 to 67 medal events – 66 were contracted with the Government.
“If we take into account that the quota for the Paris Games was reduced by 8% compared to what happened in Tokyo, let’s say that, in most cases, countries will have fewer athletes. If we manage to maintain the number here or get very close to the number of athletes in individual sports in Paris, we will leave with a very, very similar number and that will immediately be an achievement”, he highlighted.
Pedro Roque also believes that more women than Portuguese men may even be in the French capital, between July 26th and August 11th, in a Games that points to parity, remembering that in Tokyo2020 there were already around 46% of women in the Mission and 54% men, a number inflated by the men’s handball team.
Asked about the possibility of some sports, ‘getting away’ from the more traditional ones (athletics, judo and canoeing), surprising and winning medals, Pedro Roque said he believed so, highlighting, among others, the names of cyclist Iúri Leitão, omnium world champion , and skater Gustavo Ribeiro.
“Honestly, we don’t know what will happen in Paris, but recent years have demonstrated that we have more modalities prepared to be able to discuss important places in the Olympic Games, […] and that there are more young athletes dreaming and, more than dreaming, setting that as a goal and not being afraid to go after that same goal. And our country, in this aspect, in sporting terms, what we feel is that there is a generation prepared and with a different mentality, with a mentality of not being afraid of reaching the top, not being afraid of being among the best, not be afraid to be one of the best”, he stated.
2024-04-18 06:59:20