Portuguese Triathlete Finishes Strong in Olympic Debut, Securing 11th Place

The Portuguese athlete finished with a sprint and managed to close in a brilliant 11th place. In her debut at the Olympic Games, the 23-year-old Portuguese athlete was just 2 seconds away from 10th place and 12 seconds from the Olympic diploma.

“Getting 11th is… I don’t even have words to describe. I think it was super good and I am super happy,” the 23-year-old started by saying to journalists in the mixed zone near the Alexandre III Bridge, the starting and finishing point of the event.

Running at home, French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand did not succumb to the pressure and achieved the most coveted title at the age of 27. The Gallic athlete finished in 1:54:55, ahead of Julie Derron and Beth Potter, with the winner of the previous edition of the Games, Flora Duffy from Bermuda, finishing in fifth place, 1.17 minutes behind the French athlete.

The event, which consisted of 1.5 km of swimming, 40 km of cycling, and 10 km of running, was marked by adverse weather conditions, some rain, and several bicycle falls.

Melanie Santos, the other Portuguese athlete in the women’s triathlon, finished in 45th place (2h03m48s), having suffered a 15-second penalty in the swimming segment.

The podium was completed with Swiss athlete Julie Derron, who won the silver medal, and British athlete Beth Potter, who took bronze, finishing six and 15 seconds behind Cassandre Beaugrand, respectively,